International organization: More than five thousand Yazidis returned to Sinjar this year

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[size=52]International organization: More than five thousand Yazidis returned to Sinjar this year[/size]

[size=45]Translated by / Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]The Displacement Monitoring Index in Iraq of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed in a new report the return of more than five thousand displaced Yazidis to their original area of ​​residence in Sinjar and a smaller number as well to the Baaj region, attributing the matter to the challenges faced by the displaced in the camps from periods of chronic displacement. Psychological problems and the desire to reunite with their relatives and friends.[/size]
[size=45]The International Organization for Migration’s index for monitoring the movement of displaced people in Iraq, and because it observed during the past few months an increase in the flow of displaced people returning to their areas of origin in Sinjar and the Baaj region, had conducted a field survey of the waves of returnees over a period of six months for the period from April 1, 2023 to October 10 of the current year. To determine the reasons for return and the main motives for it, and during this period, it was monitored that 5,490 thousand displaced people returned, 72% of whom were to Sinjar and the remaining 28% to the Baaj region. The organization stated in its report that nine out of ten returnees are Yazidis, while the remaining small percentage are displaced returnees from other sects, including Arab Muslims, both Sunni and Shiite, as well as Kurds. 1,196 of these returnees had arrived in Sinjar since the end of September, and the index stated that the slight decrease in the number of returnees in September may be due to the start of the new school year.[/size]
[size=45]Since the beginning of the survey, which it conducted at the beginning of April, the organization has monitored the return of 218 displaced people, bringing the number of those returning during the month of May to 436 people. This number of people displaced to their areas in Sinjar increased during the month of June to 3 thousand, four hundred and fifty-two people, and it increased further during the month of August to reach 4 thousand. Five hundred and twenty-five, and their number in the month of September reached five thousand two hundred and ninety-four, bringing their number at the end of the survey on October 10th to 5 thousand four hundred and ninety people. The organization says that every two weeks it carried out statistics and collected information about the number of returnees over the course of Six months, in coordination with official bodies and the local police as well.[/size]
[size=45]The International Organization for Migration states in its report that two-thirds of the number of displaced Yazidis returning were headed to the Sinjar region, while one-third of them were directed to the Baaj region. The returnees who arrived in Sinjar were stationed in the areas of the Sinjar Center neighborhood and the North residential neighborhood, and their number was approximately 4,000 people. As for the returnees to Al-Baaj, they were stationed in the Al-Qahtaniyah neighborhood in the region, and their number was approximately 1,500 people.[/size]
[size=45]The report indicates that of these 5,490 displaced people, 78% of them returned to the place where they used to live before the crisis of the ISIS attack and the war launched against it to expel it from the country, which extended from 2014 to 2017, which forced them to flee their homes. They fled to safe areas and settled in displacement camps, and thus they have now become returnees. 22% of this number are internally displaced people who have moved to live in other locations.[/size]
[size=45]During its survey of the opinions of returning displaced persons, the International Organization for Migration investigated the motives behind their decision to return to their original areas of residence and leave the displacement camps. She found out that there are reasons that she highlighted, which range from tensions and misleading news on social media, that there may be armed attacks against the Yazidis residing in the camps, as well as other reasons related to social, psychological, and service pressures, and their strong desire to return to their area.[/size]
[size=45]The international organization concluded in its research that there are three main reasons behind their decision to leave the displacement camps and return to their areas: first, the impact of hate speech targeting the Yazidi community, second, the challenges associated with the consequences of chronic displacement, and third, the presence of a desire to reunite with their relatives and friends in their areas and villages in Sinjar.[/size]
[size=45]The organization says that 79% of them left from camps in the Somil and Zakho regions, while the smaller part left from camps in the Sheikhan region and from camp sites in Nineveh Governorate.[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that despite the passage of 9 years since it was invaded by ISIS, the Sinjar region still suffers from poor services, failure to begin reconstruction, and lacks security and stability, as many homes are damaged or destroyed, while the fates of a large number of kidnapped Yazidis are still unknown. now.[/size]
[size=45]Last week, Sinjar district witnessed the opening of a memorial commemorating the Yazidi tragedy that resulted from the genocide crimes they were subjected to at the hands of the terrorist organization ISIS in August 2014. The idea of ​​erecting the monument came at the initiative of the Yazidi activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nadia Murad, with support from the International Organization for Migration in Iraq and the US Agency for International Development, in order to document the crime of genocide against the Yazidis.[/size]
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