At U.S.-based nonprofit Yazda’s 11th annual commemoration of the Yezidi Genocide on Monday, UN Deputy Special Representative in Iraq Claudio Cordone underlined that the 2020 Sinjar Agreement, intended to stabilize the Sinjar district in Iraq, remains stalled.

Years after the Yezidi Genocide, more than 200,000 Yezidis remain displaced, many still living in camps. Potential Yezidi returns to Sinjar “must take place in a voluntary, safe, and dignified way,” Cordone said, according to a readout.

“To ensure this, the proper political, administrative, and security conditions must be in place. An important effort in this regard was the 2020 Sinjar Agreement. Yet, its implementation has stalled,” Cordone said.

“Sinjar is still without a mayor, the security force that was meant to be established to gain the trust of the community has not been deployed, and Sinjar still lacks sufficient services and livelihood opportunities.”

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However, he acknowledged and welcomed the conversion of occupancy certificates into official land titles that took place last April, adding that this has granted many Yezidis formal recognition as landowners for the first time in generations. “But many more Yazidis still await the formalization of their land rights.”

In October 2020, Baghdad and Erbil signed the Sinjar Agreement with support of the UN in order to facilitate the return of displaced Yezidis. However, top Kurdish officials have repeatedly emphasized that so far the agreement has not been implemented and militias continue to operate in Sinjar.