ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Yazidi members of the Iraqi parliament on Wednesday expressed their opposition for the upcoming national census, calling for its delay until the return of internally displaced persons (IDP) and the stabilization of some cities.

“We are not in favor of a census that legitimizes the demographic change of constitutional rights and destroyed areas,” Mohammed Khalil, a Yazidi lawmaker from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Khalil said that the current circumstances are not suitable for a general census in Iraq due to the large number of displaced and the continued instability of some areas, calling for the delay of the process until the situation is normalized and most of the IDPs return.

He stressed that a population count at this time would result in “inaccurate” data, especially in Sinjar and the Nineveh plains, which he said have seen the return of only 50 percent of their original populations.

Following the Islamic State’s (ISIS) attack on the Yazidi heartland of Sinjar in August 2014, thousands of Yazidis were forced to flee their homes in hopes of escaping the militant group’s atrocities.

Ten years on, thousands of Yazidis remain missing, and tens of thousands of others are unwilling to return to Sinjar due to security concerns exacerbated by a lack of services and reconstruction.

Iraq is set to carry out a general census on November 20 - the country’s first since 1997.

In addition to the Yazidis, Kurdish officials have also voiced concerns over the upcoming census, citing alleged attempts at demographic change in disputed areas, including Kirkuk.