ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said on Saturday that he hopes former Iraqi President Barham Salih will prioritize Yazidi issues as he assumes leadership of the United Nations refugee agency.
The UN General Assembly on Thursday approved Salih as the next head of the UN refugee agency, making him the first leader from the Middle East to hold the post since the late 1970s. He will begin his five-year term on January 1, 2026.
Khalaf Shingali, advisor to the Iraqi prime minister for Yazidi affairs, told Rudaw that Salih’s appointment is significant and welcomed the decision, expressing hope that Salih “will make the dossier of displaced Yazidi Kurds one of his main tasks, and also that their areas be reconstructed in a way that they can return to their homeland with dignity.”
The Yazidi community was devastated in August 2014 when the Islamic State (ISIS) launched a brutal campaign in Shingal (Sinjar) district of Nineveh province. The attack killed an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Yazidi men and older women, while 6,000 to 7,000 women and girls were abducted for sexual slavery and human trafficking.
Around 400,000 Yazidis were forced to flee their homes, most of them seeking refuge in the Kurdistan Region, according to data from the Office for Rescuing Abducted Yazidis under the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
Despite the territorial defeat of ISIS, displacement remains widespread. According to Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement, 21 internally displaced persons (IDP) camps are still operating in the Kurdistan Region, including 16 in Duhok province and six in Erbil.
In 2020, the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed the Shingal Agreement, aimed at restoring governance, security, and stability to the district and facilitating the return of displaced residents. The deal stipulated that Baghdad would take charge of security, remove all armed groups, and form a new local security force recruited from Shingal’s population.
However, the agreement has never been fully implemented, and thousands of Yazidis remain unable to return home.
Many families cite ongoing insecurity, the lack of reconstruction after widespread destruction of homes, and the absence of basic services. Some who attempted to leave the camps voluntarily were later forced to return, unable to sustain themselves in their areas of origin.