IDPs in Kurdistan afraid or unable to return home

[Anthea]

IDPs prefer camp's harsh winter to uncertain return home

Many Iraqi internally displaced people (IDP) fear retribution from militia groups upon returning to their hometowns and therefore prefer to stay in the camps despite exposure to the elements and lack of basic services.

“Life is hard in the camp, but it is much better than Mosul,” Abdulsalam Mohammed, an IDP from Mosul told Rudaw.

Mohammed fled Mosul six months ago and will be spending his first winter in a camp set up for thousands of people like him who fled the city during the fiercest battle between Iraqi troops and ISIS militants.

He said he fears returning to Mosul because of “pressure and oppressions” from the Hashd al-Shaabi groups.

Mohammed’s apprehensions were confirmed after his brother’s return to Mosul and his immediate arrest by Iraqi forces.

“We are not willing to return to Mosul because of the dreadful security situation of,” he said. “My brother returned to work in Mosul, he was captured by Iraqi forces five months ago and we still do not know about his fate or whereabouts.”

Khalis Haris, another IDP, would rather stay and brave the winter than face the uncertainty of a return home.

“We prefer to suffer the unpleasant weather of this winter than going home,” Haris told Rudaw.

He also criticized the Iraqi government for leaving them to their own devices in the camps.

“No one from the Iraqi government has visited us or given us any aid,” he lamented. “Our life is protected here and we will stay.”

According to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) data, some 24,000 IDP families from Mosul live at 10 camps in Erbil province alone.

Rizgar Obeid, KRG official in charge of affairs of the camps echoed similar criticism of Baghdad for ignoring the IDPs.

“As we are entering winter, no aid has been provided to the IDPs by Baghdad,” said Obeid. “Though, it was decided that each IDP family would receive 200 liters of heating oil, nothing has been sent yet.”

Khazir camp, the largest, houses 4,000 tents. At least 80 percent of the IDPs at the camp are from Nineveh province and others from Anbar and Salahaddin.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/25112017

[Anthea]

Not only forced to flee, southern IDPs barred from home

Some 120,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Jurfusakhar in Babil province and 50,000 IDPs from ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu in Salahaddin live in uncertainty. They point the finger of blame at the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi who prevent them from returning home.

“Hashd al-Shaabi and Hezbollah prevent us from returning to Jurfusakhar,” a Sunni Arab IDP told Rudaw.

A Kurdish IDP living at the same camp echoed the criticism saying “what we saw from ISIS, we also witnessed from the Hashd al-Shaabi in Tuz Khurmatu. They burn homes, demolish them, kidnap youth and kill them.”

Babil Provincial Council in August decided to bar the residents of Jurfusakhar from returning home. It even threatened to file legal lawsuit against those calling for the return of the IDPs home

However, residents of Zummar and Jalawla, or Golala, claim Hashd al-Shaabi let those return home who had links to ISIS. Karim Nuri, a Hashd al-Shaabi leader told Rudaw, the displaced persons did not deserve an answer.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/251120171

[Anthea]

Families who fled Tuz Khurmatu suffer cold, await news they can go home

Families who fled Tuz Khurmatu and are now living in tents are suffering the cold, waiting for the good news that they can return home.

“I am waiting for the news, hoping this government has become good and they have reached an agreement to help us return home. This is the news we want,” said one displaced woman.

As they wait, they are pleading for assistance to survive the winter.

Iraqi forces and Shiite militias took control of Tuz Khurmatu along with Kirkuk and other disputed areas in October, causing a flood of people, mainly Kurds, to flee.

According to UN figures, 172,000 people have since returned home, but more than 181,000 people are still displaced, fearing violence.

Most of the returns have been to Kirkuk, with “no discernable return movements” to Tuz Khurmatu, the UN’s humanitarian office stated in its October bulletin for Iraq.

Rights monitors Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United Nations, have documented killings, attacks, looting, and arson in Tuz Khurmatu.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/251120174

[Anthea]

Khurmatu IDPs demand militia withdrawal, compensation

Hundreds of displaced persons from Tuz Khurmatu staged a demonstration in the city of Kalar on Sunday calling for the restoration of security to their hometown and urging authorities to pull Iran-backed Shiite militias out of the area who are blamed for killing, displacing and burning Kurdish houses.

The representative of the protesters announced a five-point demand which essentially included “The return of IDPs to their homes in Khurmatu as soon as possible, before winter arrives.”

They also demanded the “the formation of a committee to look into the incidents that happened in Khurmatu.”

They urged authorities in Baghdad to “compensate the affected people of Khurmatu, people whose homes, shops and markets were torched.”

"Normalizing the security situation in Khurmatu and a peaceful return of its people,” was the fourth demand of the angry protesters.

They stressed the significance of “dedicating an impartial force or preferably an international peacekeeping force, if necessary, to protect security in Khurmatu and its entire people without difference."

The protesters also criticized the Kurdish government for its inaction in the face of what they call atrocities being committed against them.

“The government never reached out to the people of Tuz Khurmatu. Go and see yourself how they cope in mud in the villages [around Tuz Khurmatu] without clothing or basic needs,” lamented an angry protester, pleading for help from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Another protester said despite all the atrocities committed against Kurds in Tuz Khurmatu they "do not seek the ignition of a fight between Kurds and Turkmen, but only stability and return home.”

A Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament assured the protesters of continued attempts to restore stability in Tuz Khurmatu and help the displaced return home.

“As Kurdistani blocs, we have raised a petition to the parliament which will be discussed in the parliament’s next session. We work to make you return,” he said. “We understand that the security of Tuz Khurmatu is bad.”

He echoed the need for the formation of a special force consisting of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen to take the security matters of the town.

“The best solution is to help you return,” he said.

He said a committee was going to be formed in the parliament to visit Tuz Khurmatu to report damages done to it.

Fuad Masum, president of Iraq pledged in Sulaimani on Saturday to resolve tensions in Tuz Khurmatu.

Iraqi forces and Shiite militias took control of Tuz Khurmatu and other disputed areas in October, forcing many, mainly Kurds, from their homes.

According to UN figures, 172,000 people have since returned home, but more than 181,000 people are still displaced, fearing violence.

Most of the returns have been to Kirkuk, with “no discernable return movements” to Tuz Khurmatu, the UN’s humanitarian office stated in its October bulletin for Iraq.

Rights monitors Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United Nations, have documented killings, attacks, looting, and arson in Tuz Khurmatu.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/261120171

[Anthea]

Inside Tuz Khurmatu: Kurdish homes targeted under Hashd rule

Many houses in the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Tuz Khurmatu have been looted, burned and bombed, or appear to have been appropriated by the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi.

Rudaw’s war correspondent Hunar Ahmad and cameraman Mohammed Jawhar documented widespread destruction in the ethnically diverse town – the first investigative report by Kurdish media since the town fell to Iraqi forces and Shiite militia on October 16.

About 3,000 houses appear to have been confiscated – Shiite Turkmen slogans are scrawled on the walls. About 2,000 houses have been looted, according to figures from Kurdish parties. Some 400 houses have been set on fire and more than 50 have been bombed.

The home of an official looks like it was looted of all its contents before being bombed and burned. Just the basic structure remains.

The houses that were targeted mainly belong to volunteer Peshmerga or those who cooperated with the Peshmerga.

A local guide with Rudaw’s team helped them to avoid Hashd checkpoints inside the city. Rudaw is banned from operating in Iraqi-controlled areas.

The guide described the tense situation of the now-abandoned Kurdish areas in Khurmatu, southeast of Kirkuk.

"The Kurds are afraid to come back,” he said, driving the Rudaw team through scarred neighbourhoods.

“The Sunni Arabs from the town were told they will be safe if they returned to their homes. But to this day, they are being killed. There was a bombing the other day that killed 70 to 80 of them, and injured 90. This is what makes people afraid to return."

He said the Kurds are afraid they will suffer the same fate.

“Last night they bombed two more houses. One belongs to a Kurd who is called Jahangir,” he added, explaining why it is hard for Kurds to trust the forces now based in the town.

Banners that paid tribute to fallen Peshmerga have been burned. Buildings of Kurdish parties have been burned or bombed, or turned into a base for Iraqi forces.

Graffiti on the wall of the moderate Islamic Kurdistan Union reads “No, no for the traitors. Yes, yes for united Iraq.”

The destruction was also evident in one of the town’s markets, Halwest Bazaar, where about 180 shops were looted and burned. Other large markets in Khurmatu suffered the same fate.

Hashd al-Shaabi fighters and the Federal Police prevent residents from moving to other areas, confiscating their belongings and giving no reason for stopping the people.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/261120173

[Anthea]

PM Barzani criticizes global silence on Tuz Khurmatu abuses

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani condemned the “huge catastrophe” of abuses against Kurds by Shiite militia in Tuz Khurmatu and urged the international community to end its silence on the matter.

“People’s houses have been burned down. They have suffered aggression. We view that by all means as a huge catastrophe and are holding the Iraqi forces responsible for that,” he told reporters at a press conference on Monday following a government cabinet session.

“We are urging the international community to take this matter seriously,” he said, criticizing global inaction on the reported violence in the ethnically diverse town.

The Council of Ministers has formed a committee to assess the violations committed in the town.

“We never expected that after the war against ISIS, nearly 180,000 people would be displaced at the hands of Iraqi forces. And the Iraqi forces themselves become a factor to displace all these people,” Barzani said.

Kurds fled Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu in several waves of displacement after Iraqi forces and Shiite militias moved in. According to UN figures, 172,000 people have since returned home, but more than 181,000 remain displaced. The UN has noted that there have been no significant returns to Tuz Khurmatu.

Kurds who fled the city fear violence after their homes and businesses were targeted by Shiite militias.

Barzani urged the Iraqi government to do its part by forming an investigative committee “as soon as possible.”

The KRG leader asked for the compensation for those affected by the violence and for the people to be able to return home with honour and guarantees.

Hundreds of displaced persons from Tuz Khurmatu staged a demonstration in the city of Kalar on Sunday calling for the restoration of security in their hometown and urging authorities to pull Iran-backed Shiite militias out of the area who are blamed for killing, displacing and burning Kurdish houses.

Pledging that his government was determined to fight for women’s rights and provide a safe and equal environment for them in society, Barzani said they would follow up on cases of violations and abuses against the women of Kirkuk and other disputed areas.

“Violations were done against people and particularly women after the attacks of the Hashd al-Shaabi. The Kurdistan Region will follow up on the violations and is asking the international community to help us in this matter.”

Iraqi forces and Shiite militias took control of Tuz Khurmatu and other disputed areas in October, forcing many, mainly Kurds, from their homes.

Fuad Masum, president of Iraq, pledged in Sulaimani on Saturday to resolve tensions in Tuz Khurmatu.

Rudaw’s war correspondent Hunar Ahmad and cameraman Mohammed Jawhar documented widespread destruction in the ethnically diverse town – the first investigative report by Kurdish media since the town fell to Iraqi forces and Shiite militia on October 16.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/271120175