Iraq: 58,000 displaced families returned to their homes, 35 camps closed

Displaced Iraqi families gather as they flee a military operation by Iraqi security personnel aimed at retaking areas from Daesh in Iraq on 3 March 2016 [Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images]

Some 58,000 displaced families in Iraq have been returned to the areas from which they fled as a result of unrest in the country caused by attacks by Daesh, a spokesman for the General Secretariat of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, Haider Majeed, said yesterday.

The families were able to go back to their areas of origin after they were liberated from Daesh, INA reported.

The agency quoted Majeed as saying that as a result of the families returning to their towns and cities, authorities have shut down 35 displacement camps in Baghdad, Kirkuk and the Kurdistan region.

Last September, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Immigration and Displacement Karim Al-Nouri said many obstacles prevent displaced persons from returning to their areas including security issues, lack of essential service and tribal disputes, among others.

“The ministry,” he continued, “is determined to develop a plan in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning to facilitate the return of the displaced persons to their homes.”

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