Speaking to Rudaw's Hiwa Jamal, Maenza spoke of the various obstacles preventing minority groups – including Christians and Yezidis – from returning home, and called on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi to pull back Iran-backed militias present in the area.
"With the Yezidis and Christians, they are having a hard time returning home. They don't feel safe, they're being harassed," Maenza said.
"“There aren't the kind of services that they need for their families...you want to feel safe, and this isn't the case in a lot of areas."
According to Maenza, a lack of security is one of the biggest barriers to safe return, particularly due to the presence of Iran-backed militias in the Nineveh Plains, historically home to various religious minorities including Yezidis, Christians and Shabaks.
“The one thing I heard consistently was the security situation with the Iranian-backed militias was making it impossible for Christians to come back…extortion, kidnap, rape..a lot of this was towards religious minorities,” she said of past visits to Iraq.
Speaking of Shingal, the commissioner said the rate of reconstruction had been “disappointing” and called on the US to provide more aid for the Yezidi community.
Hundreds of families have returned to Shingal over the past weeks, but little of the area – devastated by the ISIS onslaught in August 2014 – has been restored.
On the other hand, Maenza praised both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria, also known as Rojava, for protecting religious freedom in areas under their jurisdiction.
“The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has some of the best religious freedoms in the Middle East,” the commissioner told Rudaw.
However the USCIRF is “very concerned” about Turkey “expanding its occupation” in other areas of northern Syria.
“Turkey takes away religious freedom and institutes conditions that Genocide Watch has called crimes against humanity,” she said, adding that conditions for Christians have “worsened” under Turkish occupation.
"We're very concerned about the situation in areas where Turkey has invaded and occupies. When you compare those to the conditions in the Autonomous Administration..there's such a stark difference."
