Shingal deal must be implemented for Yazidis to return home: UN rep
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A failure to implement the Shingal agreement does not inspire the return of Yazidis and internally displaced people to their homes, a United Nations official told Rudaw on Monday, pointing to gaps in the administration and security.
“The lack of implementation of the Sinjar [Shingal] agreement obviously does not create a conducive environment for the safe return of the IDPs,” Ghulam Mohammed Isaczai, the UN’s Deputy Special Representative for Iraq told Rudaw’s Dilbixwin Dara.
In 2020, Baghdad reached a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the governance and security of Shingal in order to resolve a number of issues that have prevented the return of the area’s inhabitants who had fled the Islamic State (ISIS). Under the agreement, security for the troubled region is Baghdad's responsibility. The federal government agreed to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel the various armed groups that are operating in the Yazidi heartland.
Three years after the agreement was signed, Isaczai said that there are still concerns regarding the security and lack of services provided by the government, in addition to the lack of an administrative structure in the city, which urgently needs the appointment of a mayor.
“The absence of these elements does not inspire confidence on the part of the IDPs and Yazidis,” Isaczai said.
According to the official, nine UN agencies have provided support on multiple levels that benefitted over 450,000 people in Shingal. It has also worked on rehabilitating and establishing shelters for returnees and the infrastructure of the city.
“There are some returns happening, but for us to encourage the collective and a large group return, I think it requires the full implementation of the Sinjar agreement,” Isaczai said.
The Yazidis in Shingal were subjected to countless heinous atrocities, including forced marriages, sexual violence, and massacres when ISIS captured the city in 2014, bringing destruction to many villages and towns populated by the minority group and committing genocide.
The Yazidis were forced to flee to displacement camps, mainly in the Kurdistan Region. Political disputes over the region between the federal government and the KRG as well as the presence of several armed groups have disrupted reconstruction of the city that suffered heavy destruction during the war to oust ISIS.
A Human Rights Watch report in June slammed Iraqi authorities for failing to adequately compensate thousands of Yazidi families who bore the brunt of ISIS atrocities.
Reduced funds does not mean UN departure from Iraq
Earlier this year, the UN scaled down its humanitarian assistance in Iraq. Isaczai said this was in response to a reduced need.
“Five years ago, following the defeat of Daesh [ISIS], over 11 million Iraqis were receiving humanitarian assistance. That number now has reduced to less than two million people,” he said.
The UN official said that Iraq received over eight billion dollars in humanitarian assistance, most of which was channeled to humanitarian agencies and the UN. However, less aid is now needed as many displaced families have returned to their homes and Iraq has improved its capacity to assume a lot of responsibility to provide support for the remaining people in need.
Isaczai said that although the amount of funds for Iraq has been reduced, the UN and humanitarian agencies are not leaving the country. “We are just shifting our focus from humanitarian assistance to more long term, durable and sustainable solutions,” he explained.
At the peak of the war against ISIS, more than three million Iraqis were displaced from their homes, according to UN figures. Many of them were hosted in camps in the Kurdistan Region.
Ongoing insecurity, lack of reconstruction, and a shortage of basic services means many families are reluctant to return home.
According to Isaczai, UN records show that there are currently 1.2 million Iraqis displaced across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, and around 180,000 of them are in 25 camps in the Kurdistan Region.
UPDATED at 11:32 pm