Iraq News

Syria's Kurds say deal made for 31,000 displaced Iraqis to go home

Syria's Kurds on Thursday (April 11th) announced a deal with Baghdad for 31,000 displaced Iraqis, mostly women and children, in camps in north-eastern Syria to return home to Iraq, AFP reported.

Tens of thousands of people live in the camps, which swelled enormously during the months-long battle that culminated in the defeat of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

"A delegation from the Iraqi cabinet visited the autonomous administration to discuss the return to Iraq of displaced Iraqis, estimated to number 31,000, and an agreement was reached," Kurdish official Mahmud Kero told AFP.

"So far 4,000 people have signed up and we are waiting for the Iraqi government to open up the Iraqi border to start," he said.

Kero said many of the displaced did not have Iraqi identity papers, including children born on Syrian soil.

"We have asked the Iraqi government to find a solution," he said.

An Iraqi official said on Tuesday that Baghdad was making preparations for the return of tens of thousands of citizens, most of them "women and children".

Those expected to return do not include suspected ISIS fighters being held in Kurdish-run jails, after surrendering or being caught fleeing the extremists' last stand.

"We have asked for the return of all Iraqis including those accused of belonging to ISIS," Kero said.

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