The “tents of 10 families have burned in the fire, and they will all be compensated”, said Pir Dayan Pir Jaafar, the head of Duhok's migration office.
The camp still hosts internally displaced persons (IDPs), including Yazidis, who have sought shelter in the Kurdistan Region after fleeing their homelands of Shingal (Sinjar) in 2014. Yazidis and other groups were subjected to heinous atrocities by the Islamic State (ISIS), bringing destruction to many villages and towns populated by the minority group.
Aging buildings, electrical faults, unsafe usage of fuel, and a lack of basic safety standards are major underlying safety issues in camps.
The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration said on Thursday they had repatriated 569 people from Sharia camp in Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province to their homeland of Shingal.
The ministry’s office in Erbil has increased efforts to implement Baghdad’s decision to close all IDP camps in the country, including in the Kurdistan Region, before July 30.
Despite financial incentives, many families are reluctant to leave because of continuing violence in their hometowns, a lack of reconstruction following the destruction of their homes, and little in the way of basic services. Some who voluntarily left the camps have been pressured to return.
Human rights advocates have expressed concern about Iraq’s push to close the camps, saying all returns must be voluntary.
