Over 1,000 IDPs return to liberated areas in Nineveh: Ministry
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In the past two days, 1,087 Iraqi displaced people from camps south of Mosul have returned to their liberated areas in the Nineveh province, the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration announced on Monday.
In a statement released by the Ministry, it noted the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) had voluntarily returned to their homes.
This comes as international humanitarian organizations repeatedly warn against an accelerated and forced process when returning IDPs from camps to their areas.
On Sunday, Iraq's Ministry of Displacement and Migration had confirmed the return of 1,200 IDPs from Khanaqin to the Saadiya district in Diyala Province.
Last week, the Ministry also announced the closure of an IDP camp in Kirkuk Province after it helped send about 400 displaced people back to their homes in the neighboring city of Hawija.
Following the emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq in 2014, over six million Iraqis were displaced in the country.
After the military defeat of the jihadist group, the number of IDPs has since dropped to below two million, 1.2 million of which are in the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Many Iraqi IDPs refuse to return to their areas due to security concerns and lack of basic services there.
Over the past year, the Islamic State has carried out insurgency attacks, kidnappings, and ambushes in the country despite Iraq declaring victory against the jihadist group in December 2017.
Editing by Nadia Riva