More Than 30,000 Displaced People Return to Shingal

More than 30,000 displaced people have reportedly returned to Shingal and surrounding areas this year, while thousands of families remain displaced.

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More Than 30,000 Displaced People Return to Shingal

More than 30,000 displaced people have returned to Shingal and surrounding areas in northern Iraq this year, according to Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement.

The ministry said the number of returnees has increased as security and basic services have improved in parts of Shingal, Qahtaniya and Sinune.

However, significant numbers of displaced people remain away from their homes. According to figures reported by The New Region, around 19,000 displaced people, most of them Yazidis, remain in 16 camps in the Kurdistan Region.

The situation is closely linked to the events of August 2014, when ISIS attacked the Yazidi homeland of Shingal. The attack resulted in killings, abductions, forced displacement and other serious crimes against the Yazidi population.

More than a decade later, reconstruction, security and the return of displaced families remain major challenges.

The 2020 Shingal Agreement between Baghdad and Erbil was intended to establish a new security and administrative framework for the district. However, implementation of the agreement has remained a subject of dispute.

The return of tens of thousands of people represents a significant development, but the continued displacement of thousands of families demonstrates that major challenges remain before the displacement crisis can be fully resolved.