Iraq refugees in Turkey return home after Daesh cleared from areas

The Iraqi government has announced that 100 of its citizens who had found refuge in Turkey have been able to return to their areas following the elimination of the Daesh terror group’s presence.

A statement released by Baghdad on Saturday revealed  that the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration had cooperated with the Iraqi embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara to arrange the return of the refugees, who travelled back on buses.

According to the statement, they were returned to the provinces of Mosul, Anbar and Saladin, where Daesh has reportedly been completely cleared out of and stability has been established in.

It is estimated that over five million Iraqis fled their homes and areas as Daesh swept throughout parts of Iraq – along with Syria – in 2014, with many settling in safer cities to the north and south of the country and some crossing the border into Turkey.

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Despite Daesh having been largely militarily and territorially defeated in 2017, many of the areas it once controlled remain in disrepair, making it difficult for hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to return to their homes.

The Iraqi government has recently been focusing on the issue of displaced Iraqis, and two months ago it forcefully closed down 35 displacement camps and sent 58,000 displaced families back to their areas.

The displaced Iraqis have often been on the receiving end of suspicion by other Iraqis including the Shia militias who fought against Daesh, who suggest that the reason they were not killed by the terror group was because they cooperated or sympathised with it.

READ: Years after Daesh, Iraqis forced out of camps into uncertain future