PM Barzani Calls for Int’l. Support as Cold Season Challenges Refugees in Kurdistan

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani renewed a call on the international community and aid organizations to support the Kurdistan Region in the humanitarian response to the refugees and IDPs it hosts.

PM Barzani made the remark during a visit to Bardarash Camp in Duhok province on Saturday. The camp is home to 12,000 people, many of them from those recently displaced after the Turkish military incursion into northern Syria.

“We, as the Kurdistan Regional Government, will continue serving the displaced people. However, it must be remembered that the international community should share this responsibility,” Barzani said at the camp.

“We call on the international organizations, the United Nations, and all our partners and friends, to shoulder their responsibility and support the people at the camps. The cold season is approaching, and it is challenging for the displaced people,” the Kurdish prime minister said.

He pointed out that despite the declaration of the victory over the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, there still are over 1.5 million refugees and IDPs in Kurdistan Region.

PM Barzani explained that his government is committed to provide all the possible assistance to the displaced people, and, eventually, help them safely return to their homes following a secured political solution to the ongoing crisis.