Duhok, Kurdistan, Iraq (KRG.org) – Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, and senior KRG officials arrived in Duhok today to examine and follow-up the situation of families displaced from Sinjar, the Ninevah plains, and surrounding areas currently sheltered in districts of the Duhok governorate.

In the meeting, KRG officials were provided details of the locations currently accommodating approximately 900,000 internally displaced people. The displaced include a variety of ethnicities and religious minorities, including Yezidis, Christians, Kakayis, Turkmen, Sunnis, and Shia. They have been accommodated in districts throughout Duhok province. In some towns, the number of displaced people exceeds the number of residents. The KRG provides the displaced with food, drink, and necessities on a daily basis.

The report highlighted the importance of building construction camps as quickly as possible in order to accommodate the displaced currently sheltered in schools. The construction of camps would enable the provision of necessary administrative, educational, health, security, and water services as well as the provision of fuel before the beginning of winter. In the meeting it was reiterated that the needs of the displaced are far beyond the KRG’s capacity, and officials urged the Iraqi Government to fulfill its legal and constitutional duty to help its citizens meet their basic needs.

Prime Minister Barzani thanked the Governor of Duhok and the staff members of the various administrative and institutional bodies of the province for their hard work and resilience in aiding the displaced families. The Prime Minister also commended the people of Duhok for all the support and aid they have provided for the displaced.