The closure of camps in Iraq housing Yazidis displaced by IS attacks is postponed, an official says

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The Iraqi government has postponed an order to clear out camps in the country’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region that house thousands of people who fled when the Islamic State group seized their home areas a decade ago, officials said Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Baghdad ordered the camps to be closed by July 30 and offered payments of 4 million dinars (about $3,000) to occupants who leave.

Kurdish authorities refused to implement the closure order, saying that the areas the displaced people fled from — in particular, the remote district of Sinjar, the historic homeland of the Yazidi religious minority — are not suitable for returns.

The prime minister’s office has not released any public statement on the decision. However, a Baghdad government official confirmed that the closure had been postponed.

“A committee has been formed from the central government, the regional government and international organizations in order to assess the situation of the return of displaced persons and to provide the appropriate atmosphere for their return,” he said. ”The return will be voluntary and not forced.”