130 Yazidi families begin return from Duhok camp

Shafaq News- Duhok

Around 130 Yazidi families are returning from Shariya camp, south of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), to their home areas in Sinjar district, Duhok Migration and Displacement Department Director told Shafaq News on Monday.

Jaafar said 70 families had already left the camp, while another 60 were expected to depart on September 29.

In August, Jaafar told Shafaq News that Duhok authorities planned to register 410 displaced families for return to Sinjar, with registration open across camps in Duhok province and the Zakho autonomous administration through June 2027. Under the program, coordinated with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), each returning family will receive 1.5 million Iraqi dinars (about $1,144) and transportation for household belongings. Unlike earlier programs, current support does not include home repairs or reconstruction.

The families fled Sinjar during ISIS’s August 2014 offensive, which led to mass killings, abductions and the enslavement of thousands of Yazidis. They spent more than 12 years in displacement camps across the KRI before beginning their return to their home areas.

Read more: The long shadow of Sinjar: Twelve years after the ISIS genocide