ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The process of returning Yazidi internally displaced persons (IDPs) back to Sinjar has been halted due to the lack of stipends and security issues, a Duhok immigration official told The New Region.

A lightning offensive in 2014 by the Islamic State (ISIS) that took control of large swathes of Iraqi territory, including Sinjar, saw hundreds of thousands of Yazidis flee for their lives from the group's sectarian enmity and resettle in other parts of Iraq. Eight years on from the territorial defeat of ISIS, provisions to relocate Yazidis back to their homes still leave much to be desired.

"For the past few months, the return of IDPs to Sinjar has been halted. The Iraqi government says we do not have stipends to spend, and a lack of security constitutes another reason," Pir Dayan Jaafar, head of Duhok's migration office, told The New Region on Tuesday.

A considerable portion of the families who have returned have yet to receive the stipend promised to them by the Iraqi government, Jaafar noted, detailing that humanitarian aid from organizations has decreased by 70 percent.

The extremist group killed around 5,000 Yazidi men, some of whom were put into mass graves during their occupation of the region, while around 7,000 women and girls were enslaved.

Duhok was the primary destination of a total of 350,000 to 450,000 Yazidis who were uprooted from Sinjar, according to a 2024 report by the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani announced in mid-March the launch of 14 infrastructure and rehabilitation projects worth roughly 12 million dollars in the Sinjar district and the Nineveh plains, aimed at encouraging the voluntary return of IDPs.

Jaafar added that all humanitarian necessities inside the IDP camps, “like cleaning, drinking water, electricity, school, and health sectors, are all being provided by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)… aid is now only provided by the Barzani Charity Foundation and the UNHCR," with "IOM helping in the return of up to 400 families annually."

Baghdad had previously set July 30 as the deadline for the closure of all IDP camps across the Kurdistan Region. The KRG, however, has repeatedly announced its unwillingness to forcibly shut down the camps, a decision that pushed the Iraqi migration minister, Evan Faek Jabro, to lodge a complaint against Erbil.