ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Two camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sulaimani, which were once overwhelmed by families fleeing violence in Kirkuk and other parts of Iraq, are being closed down as the majority of IDPs have now returned home, an official said Saturday. Barzinja camp, which contains 155 cabins, was completely empty when authorities finally closed its gates this week. Surdash camp, which has 400 cabins, in now on the brink of closure as just a “handful” of IDPs still live there. “In the beginning, there were 146 Arab displaced families sheltering in Barzinja camp. But the number gradually dropped as some of them returned home while others went to other areas looking for work,” Rebin Mahmood, the mayor of Surdash sub-district, told Rudaw. Other IDPs who had sheltered in the Barzinja camp since October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces and Iran-backed militias seized Kirkuk from the Kurdish Peshmerga, have also returned to their areas, he said. “There were just 14 Arab families staying in the camp recently. But we decided to refer them to the Ashti Camp in Arbat so we can shut the door of the camp,” he added. The Islamic State group (ISIS) seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, forcing millions of people to flee. Many of the displaced fled to the relative safety of the Kurdistan Region. The Kurdistan Region is currently hosting 1,040,365 IDPs and refugees, according to the latest Humanitarian Situation Report on IDPs in the Kurdistan Region published by Joint Crisis Coordination Center. Some 225,955 of these are Syrians fleeing the neighbouring country’s protracted civil war. The majority of residents sheltering in Sulaimani’s Surdash camp were from Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu. Now that many people have returned to their homes, there are now just 40 families living there. “Only 40 families have opted to stay in the Surdash camp,” Mahmood told Rudaw. “UNICEF and other UN agencies have informed them that the camp is running out of services and living conditions [are declining, so they are] offering to transfer them to the Ashti Camp in Arbat,” he said. “Of the 40 families, 18 of them have said they will live on their own, saying they do not want anything. So we consider the camp as closed.” The Iraqi government declared the territorial defeat of ISIS in December 2017. The battled to retake territory from the group led to further displacement. At the height of ISIS violence, some six million Iraqis were displaced across the country. Displacement was particularly pronounced in the north and west of the country – including the provinces of Anbar, Kirkuk and Saladin. While the majority of Iraq’s IDPs have returned home, some 1.6 million continue to reside in camps. Many are reluctant to return home because of continuing violence in their home areas, a lack of reconstruction following the destruction of their homes, and little in the way of basic services. Some who voluntarily left the camps to salvage their homes and livelihoods have been forced to come back to the camps, unable to piece together the basics. A recent report by Human Rights Watch documented a series of forced returns, highlighting both state force misconduct and civilian violence. Allegations against security forces include lying to IDPs about where they are being taken, and the forced return of IDPs to areas where ISIS activity is known to be rife. The New York-based rights monitor claimed that more than 2,000 IDPs have been expelled from camps in Nineveh to their areas of origin in Saladin, Kirkuk, and Anbar. “Some were forced to return to their home regions, despite fears for their safety, including from former neighbors who perceive them as being linked to the Islamic State. Some have come under attack since being forced home,” the report said.
