The United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) in collaboration with the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the German Government held a ceremony to distribute occupancy certificates to returnee Yezidi families in Sinjar on Saturday.
“Recognizing the housing occupancy rights for the Iraqi Yezidis since decades in this area is a ground-breaking achievement, and is a necessary tool for prompting more returns to the area,” said Dr. Erfan Ali, head of the UN-Habitat Iraq, per a press release on the agency’s official Facebook page.
The Yezidis have never been issued property deeds in Snuny and surrounding villages of Sinjar in Nineveh province. As part of a UN project, 562 damaged houses have been rehabilitated in 11 villages across the Snuny sub-district.
The ceremony on Saturday celebrated the completion of the rehabilitation project which facilitated the return of approximately 3,000 Yezidis to their restored homes.
The UN project to secure the housing deeds made use of a tool that has been applied in numerous countries. “The UN-Habitat team conducted community consultation meetings to verify the occupancy claims of the returnees, and issued the occupancy certificates that are endorsed by local authorities as well as community members,” the release read.
The project promotes the right to adequate housing for the vulnerable Yezidi community who witnessed the destruction of their homes during the 2014 invasion of Sinjar by ISIS. Recognizing the Yezidis’ housing occupancy rights will ensure the tenure rights of a population who have long been marginalized.
Over 275,000 people from the Mount Shingal area, including a vast majority of Yezidis, were driven out of their homes with the invasion of ISIS in 2014. The abandoned Yezidi houses were either demolished or seized by ISIS fighters. Some 3,000 houses are thought to have been purposely destroyed or burned down in Snuny alone.
German Ambassador Dr. Cyrill Nunn, who was present at the ceremony, called on people to remember the violence and atrocities committed against the Yezidis by ISIS.
“These acts against human rights and religious freedom should never be forgotten,” he stressed.
Nunn emphasized that the housing project is an important step for many Yezidis to return home.
“Beside this physical support, another important step will be to address the psychological needs of those Yezidis, who have suffered so much under the control of ISIS,” he said.
“Germany stands ready to continue its support also in this area.”
