ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A fire broke out early Saturday at a camp housing displaced Yazidis in Zakho, in northern Duhok province, destroying dozens of shops inside the camp.
The blaze erupted at the Bajed Kandala camp at around 6 am and lasted for less than two hours, burning down between 30 and 35 shops, according to Jamal Hasin, head of Zakho’s civil defense.
“There were no human casualties, but the fire caused massive financial losses,” Hasin told Rudaw.
He said firefighters managed to prevent the flames from spreading to the residential tents inside the camp, adding that the incident was caused by an electrical short circuit.
Bajed Kandala camp is home to more than 1,600 Yazidi families, according to data from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The camp is located near Zakho city in Duhok province. Similar fires have occurred in this and other displacement camps in recent years.
The head of Zakho’s civil defense said authorities will assess the extent of the financial damage caused by the fire.
Nearly eight years after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS), thousands of Yazidis continue to live in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Despite financial incentives offered by authorities, many families are reluctant to return home due to ongoing insecurity, the lack of reconstruction of destroyed homes and businesses, and limited access to basic services.
While the Iraqi government aims to close all IDP camps across the country, human rights advocates have stressed that returns must be voluntary.
Following the incident, prominent Yazidi activist Murad Ismael called on the Iraqi government to provide urgent compensation to affected families.
“The displaced Yazidi families in the Bajed Kandala camp have suffered immense financial losses, adding to more than eleven years of ongoing suffering,” Ismael wrote on Facebook. “This is a direct result of the failure of successive governments and the political system to return more than 150,000 displaced Yazidis to their homes and original areas.”
He urged the government to “disburse an urgent emergency grant to the affected families in the Bajed Kandala camp to compensate for their recent losses and help alleviate their harsh living conditions.”
Saturday’s fire marks the second such incident at Bajed Kandala camp in three months. On September 26, a separate fire injured one person and destroyed several tents.