Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani receives a delegation of Assyrian notables from Iraq, the Kurdistan Region and the United States in Erbil on September 14, 2025. Photo: Kurdistan Region Presidency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday reaffirmed the Kurdistan Region’s “steadfast policy and commitment” to protecting the ethnic and religious communities residing in the Region. His remarks came during a meeting with a delegation of Assyrians from Iraq, the Kurdistan Region and the United States.
In a statement, the Kurdistan Region Presidency reported that President Barzani received a group of Assyrians from the US led by the head of the Foundation of Assyrians for Justice Sam Darmo. The delegation also included several notables from the Assyrian community in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
President Barzani reiterated “the Region’s steadfast policy and commitment to safeguarding communities,” while also praising “the contributions and cooperation of Assyrians across various aspects of life in the Kurdistan Region.”
The visiting delegation “expressed gratitude for the harmonious coexistence and mutual respect among the communities in the Kurdistan Region.” They lauded the Region’s “ongoing support and cooperation since 2003,” highlighting its role as “a safe haven for Assyrians and other [communities].”
The meeting also saw discussions on the current situation of Assyrians and other minority groups, particularly in the Kurdistan Region, the statement detailed.
Since 2003, the Kurdistan Region has served as a sanctuary for many of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities due to its relative stability and security amid broader violence and sectarian conflicts in Iraq.
Prior to that, the Region’s political system had made institutional efforts to include minorities, most notably through a quota system in the Kurdish legislature. This system reserves a specific number of seats for minority groups, including Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac Christians, along with Turkmen and Armenians to ensure their political voice is heard.
More recently, in 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) launched a blitz offensive, seizing large swathes of territory in Iraq’s north and west. The group’s persecution of minority groups, including Christians, Turkmen, Shabak and Yazidis, prompted hundreds of thousands of them to flee, with many settling in the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Duhok provinces.
As of mid-2025, the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) report that some 103,000 to 109,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain in camps within the Kurdistan Region. This while the majority of the IDPs in the Region live outside of camps, having settled in urban areas in the Region.
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