On Wednesday May 15, 2019, the Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held a conference on the protracted displacement to discuss the obstacles before the return of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and finding a mechanism to establish durable solutions for those who are not able to return.
Mr. Hoshang Mohamed, Director General of the JCC welcomed the participants and thanked IOM for organizing such an important meeting. Mr. Hoshang called for working on ways to pave the way for the return of the IDPs to their areas of origin. He also stressed on the need for having a mechanism by all the relevant partners to facilitate the returning process as well as working on removing security, financial and services-related obstacles for the return of the IDPs.
Mr. Gerard Karl Waite, Chief of Mission of the IOM and Suzan Rix, Head of OCHA in the Kurdistan Region briefed the meeting about the current situation of the IDPs and the importance of having a new policy and strategy to resolve the issue of protractive displacement in the Kurdistan Region and the whole Iraq.
During the meeting, several assessments were presented by the IOM team and the JCC on the situation of the IDPs and the barriers before their return as well as facilitating their return.
Mr. Ali Saeed, the Director of Information Management and Data Exchange at JCC also gave a presentation on the current humanitarian situation in Kurdistan and obstacles before the stabilization in the liberated areas.
In the roundtable discussion, the participants exchanged views and inputs on the discussed topics and presented many suggestions and recommendations to prepare for a roadmap that can overcome the obstacles and resolves the issues IDPs and host communities face.
