Iraqi president urges to end the displaced issue before the end of 2024
The Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, and the Head of UN-Habitat Iraq, Wael Al-Ashhab. Photo: INA
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, urged on Tuesday to end the displaced issue within a timeframe that does not exceed December 2024.
During a meeting with the Head of UN-Habitat Iraq, Wael Al-Ashhab, and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad, the Iraqi President stressed the need to ensure a safe and stable return of the displaced to their cities and homes, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Rashid explained that the safe return of displaced Iraqis will be completed through strengthened cooperation between government agencies and international organizations concerned with the displaced.
Al-Ashhab reviewed the progress of the United Nations program and the future plans set to resolve this issue by returning all the displaced to their homes.
A report issued in July by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) mentioned that one million people remain displaced in Iraq six years after the defeat of the terrorist group ISIS, with a quarter of them perceived as ISIS-affiliates.
On a visit to Anbar, Baghdad and Basra in mid-July, the UNDP’s Assistant Secretary-General and Crisis Bureau Director, Asako Okai, stated that supporting the country’s efforts to reintegrate everyone is critical to preventing extremism and boosting recovery.
More than six million people were forced to flee their homes between 2014 and 2017 as ISIS fighters controlled around 40 percent of the country, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
80 percent of displaced people have been able to return home, according to the UNDP.