ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Ministry of Migration and Displacement has said that the money to be allocated to the ministry in this year’s budget is not enough to cover grants given to IDPs returning to their areas of origin, an official told state media on Tuesday.
Ministry undersecretary Karim al-Nouri said that the provisional 2021 budget allocates 85 billion dinars (around $58 million) to the ministry, which is not enough to pay grants –1.5 million dinars for each family – for IDPs returning to their home areas, promised after a wave of camp closures across Iraq.
Aid groups have previously said that many returnees have not received the compensation promised by the ministry.
According to Nouri, only al-Jada’a camp in Nineveh province and Amiriyat Al-Fallujah camp in Anbar remain open in federal Iraq.
Last year, the Iraqi government began a push to close about 17 IDP camps around the country, three years after the defeat of the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Earlier this month, Migration and Displacement Minister Evan Jabro reiterated her ministry's intention to close all camps, including those in the Kurdistan Region.
The government has received criticism for its policy of camp closures. Rights monitors say IDP and refugee returns must be voluntary.
"Some of the displaced do not want to return to their cities for fear of tribal persecution, or their homes are still destroyed,” Nouri told state media on Tuesday.
"They still can go to other areas, because life will be better for them than staying in the camps,” he added.
Baghdad launched an “emergency” housing plan in November as many IDPs were unable to return home following the camp closures.
