Baghdad, Erbil agree on Nineveh villagers’ return
Shafaq News- Nineveh
Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reached an agreement several days earlier to allow displaced residents of five Arab villages in Nineveh’s Rabia subdistrict to return to their homes and farmland, provincial council member Saadoun Al-Shammari told Shafaq News on Monday.
The villagers were forced to flee after ISIS seized their areas in 2014 and had been unable to return to their property since 2017. Most have been living in Rabia town and other parts of Mosul, many in deteriorating mud-brick houses and under difficult living conditions, according to Al-Shammari
He criticized “the lack of government support and a weak response from international and humanitarian organizations,” saying the families have suffered for nearly a decade without compensation for homes destroyed during their prolonged displacement or damage to their crops.
Al-Shammari said the provincial government would coordinate with Baghdad to pursue compensation for affected families and rehabilitate their villages, describing the agreement as an important step toward ending displacement and restoring stability.
On September 9, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than one million Iraqis remained internally displaced and needed housing, livelihoods, official documentation and basic services, despite millions having returned to their home areas.
Read more: Iraq’s Displacement: war-driven migration to climate-induced pressures
