KDP detains the displaced to use their votes

Reports 04:36 PM - 2023-04-10

Voting.

According to the Iraqi Minister of Migration and Displaced, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is preventing the return of the displaced to their homes, and a parliament member says, "The goal is clear: the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is detaining the displaced in order to use them to vote in the elections."

Furthermore, according to the most recent data from the Migration and Displacement Directorate of the Kurdistan Region, there were more than 248 thousand refugees and around 665 thousand total displaced individuals living in the Kurdistan Region in 2022.

No camps have been closed in the Kurdistan Region

The KRG is not allowing the displaced to return to their homes while their lives are not safe and are not in good condition. Also, only the camps in the Kurdistan Region are still operating in Iraq, according to Ivan Jabro, the Iraqi Minister of Migration and the Displaced. 

"We hope the KRG opens the door so the displaced can return home," she said. 

"We have no authority over the displaced camps in the Kurdistan Region because the Ministry of Interior is in charge of these camps in the Kurdistan Region, and the Barzani Organization manages the camps," the Iraqi Minister of Migration and the Displaced stated during a special program on the Iraqi Rashid channel.

The KDP is preventing the return of the displaced

The Kurdistan Region has approximately 900,000 displaced people and refugees, according to the KRG statistics. A member of the Kurdistan parliament says that the KDP is using the displaced people's votes for its own benefit and is blocking them from returning to their homes through the government. 

"The KDP is bartering with the votes of the displaced for its own profit and is blocking them from returning to their homes through the government," said Rozhan Hamarash, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament, to PUKMEDIA. 

"The KDP has previously hampered the return of the displaced, and it is doing so again now that elections are underway," she said. "As a result of their votes, the KDP will win several seats in the Kurdistan parliament and Iraqi provincial councils, in addition to doing business with them on a global scale."

The votes of the displaced disrupt the balance of parliament

The voting numbers of the displaced will hamper the balance of parliament and must be discouraged; therefore, no party should be allowed to exploit the displaced.
Earlier, Dr. Sarwar Abdulrahman, president of the Pay Institute, told PUKMEDIA: "The voter registration list contains 900,000 names of displaced and refugees, and Kurds from other parts of the country; fraud and names of the dead; and it should be cleaned."

"The displaced should not be allowed to vote in the Kurdistan Region and should return to their homes to cast their ballots," he continued. "The votes of the displaced and the deceased will break the balance of parliament."

Human Rights Watch: The displaced are not allowed to return

According to a report published by Human Rights Watch on October 21, 2021, the security forces of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are illegally restricting and preventing refugees and the displaced people living in displaced camps from leaving.

The report also stressed that the governments in both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region must lift these restrictions.

There are about 900,000 displaced people and refugees in the Kurdistan Region

According to the most recent data from the KRG Migration and Displacement Directorate, there were 664,798 displaced people in the Kurdistan Region in 2022. 174,706 of the 664,798 displaced people were housed in camps; 102 have since returned to their original locations; 230 were new or re-entered into camps; and 490,092 were living outside of camps.

Last year, 248,434 refugees were registered in the Kurdistan Region, with 93,966 living in camps and 154,468 living outside of camps. There were 376 refugees who returned to their homes and 482 new refugees, or those who returned to the camps.

The KDP is utilizing the votes of the displaced to gain more seats in the parliament, and it is using the KRG Ministry of Interior to prevent their return to their homes.
 

 

PUKMEDIA