On the 10th anniversary of Daesh’s occupation of Sinjar and a spate of terror attacks that displaced thousands, Iraqis yearn to return home. But the PKK terrorist group is another obstacle for returns.
Some 150,000 families still have not returned to their hometowns long after Daesh was defeated but Sinjar, at the heart of the Daesh invasion, remains occupied by the PKK, a group responsible for the killings of thousands over the past few decades in Türkiye.
Daesh stormed several cities and towns in al-Anbar, Diyala, Mosul, Kirkuk and Salahaddin, mostly in northern Iraq in 2014, forcing families to flee. Camps were set up for the internally displaced and some were closed in the following years due to returns.
Ali Abbas, a spokesperson for Iraq’s migration ministry, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday that some 900,000 families had to flee amid Daesh attacks and 600,000 families so far returned to lands they were forced to leave. Abbas said the number of those officially recognized as internally displaced were between 120,000 and 150,000 people and they shut down 153 out of 175 camps for the displaced, including those in Duhok and Irbil. He stated that 27,000 families were staying in the camps and 22,000 among them were residents of Sinjar.
Sharif Suleiman, a member of the Iraqi Parliamentary Committee of Migration, said the issue of internal migrants was part of a deal between political sides in the formation of the incumbent Iraqi government. “Ensuring their return is essential for (the Kurdistan Regional Government or KRG, which controls Iraq’s north) and Iraq in general. All camps were required to be closed by the end of this month but it is difficult and not appropriate under current conditions. Circumstances are not feasible for migrants to return home,” he said.
Suleiman stated that there were about 1 million internally displaced Iraqis including those living outside camps and authorities failed to implement the Sinjar Agreement (between the KRG and the government in Baghdad) that stipulated the eviction of the PKK from Sinjar. “Political tensions and rivalry in Sinjar is among the reasons preventing migrants from returning home. The government has to do its part to ensure their return,” he said. Suleiman noted that 90% of the displaced had their residences unusable and the government has to improve security in Sinjar.
PKK terrorists managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in 2014 under the pretext of protecting the Yazidi community from Daesh terrorists. Thist second terrorist group was accused of blocking aid to the Yazidi minority while hindering their return to the Sinjar region.
Hundreds of thousands of Yazidis, who had to flee their homes after the Daesh attack, have been living in the camps in northern Iraq under harsh conditions.
Baghdad and KRG capital Irbil signed a deal in 2020 to end the presence of the PKK in Sinjar, but it has not been implemented yet.
Despite the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement's initial decision to close the camps by July 30, the PKK's presence has forced Yazidis to endure harsh conditions at the camps.
The Yazidis, whose mass killings were recognized as a "genocide" by the United Kingdom most recently, are a Kurdish-speaking ethno-religious minority found mainly in Iraq. They are followers of an ancient religion rooted in Zoroastrianism that emerged in Iran over 4,000 years ago. Of the world's nearly 1.5 million Yazidis, the largest number, 550,000, lived in Iraq before the Daesh attacks in 2014.
Daesh attacked the Yazidi bastion of Sinjar in August 2014, killing over 1,200 people, leaving several hundred children orphaned and destroying nearly 70 shrines, according to local authorities. A further 6,400 Yazidis were abducted, around half of whom were rescued or managed to flee.
