ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is set to begin registering displaced persons wishing to return to their original areas, an official said Sunday, adding that the process will take place in stages.

Perdayan Jaafar, Director of Migration and Displacement in Duhok told The New Region that the KRG in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) plans to “begin registration at the start of September and to carry out the process in stages; in this stage, 410 families will be registered and returned to Sinjar and its surrounding areas.”

He added that the return is fully voluntary and the federal government must provide financial aid for the displaced to return home and that the IOM is providing those returning with 1.5 million Iraqi dinars (around $1,100).

On August 3, 2014, Islamic State (ISIS) militants seized control of the Yazidi heartland of Sinjar, launching a brutal campaign of killings, abductions, genocidal rape, and forced conversions of members of the ethnoreligious minority group.

As a result, more than 400,000 people were displaced and moved to the Kurdistan Region.

In October 2020, Erbil and Baghdad signed the Sinjar Agreement, aimed at normalizing the situation in the Yazidi heartland.

The agreement outlined that the federal government would oversee security operations in Sinjar in collaboration with the KRG, while Nineveh's local administration would manage public services.

It further mandated the removal of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) elements and other armed factions from the district, transferring control to the federal army and police. However, six years after its ratification, the agreement has yet to be implemented.

Kurdish officials have repeatedly called on the federal government to rebuild Sinjar and compensate the victims.