Iraqi Minister of Migration and Displacement Jassim al-Jaf told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq has managed to overcome the crisis of those displaced through the return of more than three million people to their homes.
Jaf said that it is the largest displacement in terms of humanitarian aspect and the number of people displaced, following the Syrian crisis.
“Through government support and the support we have received from the international community, the ministry has managed to overcome the crisis with minimal losses despite the difficulties we have faced in all phases of the crisis,” Jaf said.
He pointed out that the total number of displaced people, whether inside Iraq or abroad, has mounted to five million.
“We were able to return more than three million 500,000 displaced, which is a high proportion, while the rest have not been returned yet due to some appropriate infrastructure as well as security or tribal problems in their areas.”
“The plan we have followed focused on was providing services to displaced families, sustaining shelter camps and legal, logistic and administrative needs for these families and focusing on the importance of supporting stability in liberated areas, which will ensure the return of one million displaced people this year,” Jaf further noted.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pledged to return all the displaced people to their homes without leaving any demographic changes caused by ISIS in areas that fell under the terrorist organization’s control.
“Iraq was thought to be crumbled in 2014, but thanks to the unity and courage of Iraqi fighters and citizens, we made it again and managed to defeat ISIS,” Abadi was quoted as saying.
He made the remarks while addressing the 10th conference of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for the Middle East and North Africa Region, currently held in Baghdad.
He said that defeating ISIS was the result of the unity of the Iraqis and support of other countries.
“It is a success because it saved the Iraqis from a terrorist and criminal gang that has caused many victims during its aggression and other sacrifices during liberation operations,” Abadi added.
“We are working on returning all the displaced people to their homes and liberated cities, and we are still committed to prevent ISIS from causing any demographic change and ending the diversity, which we cherish and the civilizations have been found upon," he stressed.
