A report published by the International Rescue Committee, Danish Refugee Council, and Norwegian Refugee Council on May 14 shows that the majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps in the Kurdistan Region do not intend to return to their areas of origin in the next 12 months.

The report was supported by the Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission.

The federal government of Iraq aims to close the IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region by July, while Kurdistan Regional Government officials have emphasized that they will not forcibly return IDPs to their areas of origin.

The report shows that up to 95% of IDPs in camps in the Kurdistan Region do not intend to return to their areas of origin in the next 12 months, “primarily because of tenuous safety and a lack of civil documentation, housing, and economic opportunities.”

Moreover, it notes that “concerningly, 4% of those who returned to areas of origin from camps in the Kurdistan Region over the past year were forced to move again due to these same barriers, falling back into vulnerability and requiring renewed support from agencies and international donors.”

The report emphasized that “durable solutions pathways for remaining IDPs in Federal Iraq remain obscure and unattainable in the near term.”

Therefore, the report concludes that “it is evident that Iraqis in protracted displacement require sustainable choices beyond ‘return to area of origin’.”

Read More: HRW Warns Against Kurdistan Camp Closures

Additionally, a Human Rights Watch report published on May 13 criticized the planned closure of IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region and underlined that such a move would imperil the rights of many Yezidi IDP camp residents originally from Sinjar.

Sinjar remains unsafe and lacks adequate social services to ensure the economic, social, and cultural rights of thousands of displaced people who may soon be forced to return, the report added.