Baghdad to compensate ISIS victims, families from Kurdistan Region
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- The Iraqi government is ready to compensate the families of victims and those wounded in the ISIS conflict, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Fuad Othman, the spokesperson for the KRG Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, said that on Wednesday, a delegation from Iraqi government’s Directorate of Victims of Terror will come to the Kurdistan Region.
The visit is aimed at initiating measures for compensating the families of the victims of terror based on Iraqi Law No. 20 (2009).
Tavga Omer, the legal director-general in Kurdistan’s Human Rights Commission, said a high committee has been formed.
She added the committee is directly linked to Iraq’s Council of Ministers and it has opened a branch in Erbil. People can now visit the office and start the official paperwork, she added.
“Any family of a martyr covered by the law will receive 50 million dinars (about $42,000). Compensation for the injured starts from 1.75 million dinars (about $1,500) and up to 5 million dinars (about $4,200),” she added.
More than 1,400 Peshmerga from the Kurdistan Region sacrificed their lives in the fight against ISIS while holding a roughly 1,000 kilometer frontline against the extremists. The Peshmerga ministry says more than 10,000 were injured.
The Peshmerga is are constitutionally part of the Iraqi Security Forces, although the Iraqi government has never armed or equipped it, nor paid the salaries of the Peshmerga.
Baghdad has recognized the sacrifices of the Peshmerga in the ISIS conflict, naming it next to the Iraqi Army and other forces when remembering the victory.
The salaries of two unified brigades of Peshmerga are paid for by the US government.
Security forces elsewhere in Iraq have not publicly released casualty figures from the ISIS conflict. Analysts say the forces of the coalition-trained counterterrorism units and rapid response units sustained extreme losses.
The Iraqi government has already compensated many families of the victims of the conflict in southern and central Iraq.
Reporting by Fallah Najm
Fuad Othman, the spokesperson for the KRG Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, said that on Wednesday, a delegation from Iraqi government’s Directorate of Victims of Terror will come to the Kurdistan Region.
The visit is aimed at initiating measures for compensating the families of the victims of terror based on Iraqi Law No. 20 (2009).
Tavga Omer, the legal director-general in Kurdistan’s Human Rights Commission, said a high committee has been formed.
She added the committee is directly linked to Iraq’s Council of Ministers and it has opened a branch in Erbil. People can now visit the office and start the official paperwork, she added.
“Any family of a martyr covered by the law will receive 50 million dinars (about $42,000). Compensation for the injured starts from 1.75 million dinars (about $1,500) and up to 5 million dinars (about $4,200),” she added.
More than 1,400 Peshmerga from the Kurdistan Region sacrificed their lives in the fight against ISIS while holding a roughly 1,000 kilometer frontline against the extremists. The Peshmerga ministry says more than 10,000 were injured.
The Peshmerga is are constitutionally part of the Iraqi Security Forces, although the Iraqi government has never armed or equipped it, nor paid the salaries of the Peshmerga.
Baghdad has recognized the sacrifices of the Peshmerga in the ISIS conflict, naming it next to the Iraqi Army and other forces when remembering the victory.
In the 2019 budget, Iraq is expected allocate funding for KRG Peshmerga and these compensations might be further indicator of that.
The salaries of two unified brigades of Peshmerga are paid for by the US government.
Security forces elsewhere in Iraq have not publicly released casualty figures from the ISIS conflict. Analysts say the forces of the coalition-trained counterterrorism units and rapid response units sustained extreme losses.
The Iraqi government has already compensated many families of the victims of the conflict in southern and central Iraq.
Reporting by Fallah Najm