Kurdistan Regional Government
Representation in the United States
Washington D.C.
Welcome to our March 2020 Humanitarian Bulletin
Employees of the the Barzani Charity Foundation educating people about the coronavirus and providing hand sanitizers and masks to the general public in urban centers and the population of camps for displaced people.
The rapid spread of coronavirus pandemic around the world is expected to have devastating impacts on the global economy, especially the fragile states with displaced people. So far, 40 people have contracted the virus in the Kurdistan Region. In efforts to contain the pandemic, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has proactively taken strict measures by temporarily closing schools, extending public holidays, imposing curfews, and canceling large gatherings, including religious sermons.

Fortunately, no COVID-19 cases have been reported among the displaced community in Kurdistan, but the KRG has also imposed strict measures on the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugee camps, which have negatively impacted prices and movement of aid deliveries inside the camps. Further, the pandemic has devastated the local economy, especially after the sharp drop of oil prices, which will further limit KRG’s ability to meet the needs of over 1 million IDPs and refugees, which amounts to 20 percent of its population. The KRG shoulders about 70% of the almost 1 billion USD annual cost to provide basic services to the refugees and IDP’s.

Moreover, thousands of new refugees continue to cross into the Kurdistan Region from northeast Syria (Rojava). Since the beginning of the Turkish military incursion into Rojava on 9 October 2019, more than 21,650 Syrian Kurds have crossed into the Kurdistan Region. Additionally, the ongoing turmoil continues to affect the physical and mental well-being, living standards and recovery of millions of IDPs and refugees. The recent escalation of violence by the remnants of ISIS in the disputed areas and the Sunni triangle has also led to an increase in the return of IDPs to Kurdistan.

HIGHLIGHTS


  • More than 1,052,425 refugees and IDPs are registered in the Kurdistan Region. 

  • More than 1,600 displaced people arrived to the Kurdistan Region in February 2020

  • More than 1,482 displaced people returned to their place of origin or migrated to another country. 

  • More than half of the displaced people are women and children.
About 40% of the refugees live in 10 camps and 20% of the IDPs live in 28 camps across three provinces in the Kurdistan Region: 47.5% are in Erbil, 33% in Duhok, and 19.5% in Slemani.
According to KRG's Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC), 787,367 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are registered in Kurdistan.
The total incoming humanitarian funding in Iraq for 2019 was about 647.5 million USD. The United States was the largest donor country—followed by Germany, Canada, the European Commission, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Kuwait, South Korea, Ireland, Qatar, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Poland, and Malaysia.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is grateful and expresses its sincere gratitude to all of the countries, UN Agencies, and international and local NGOs for their financial support and their dedication to alleviating the suffering of the vulnerable displaced people in Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq.

Funding Gaps: The KRG is experiencing a huge funding gap for supporting the displaced people, and the current outbreak will further complicate things. On average, it costs about $2.7 million US dollars per day ($81 million per month) to provide basic civic services to the displaced people in Kurdistan. Approximately 25 percent of the funding is covered and managed by the United Nations Agencies and US Department of State bureaus and 5 percent by International and local NGOs. The KRG provides about 70 percent of funds out of its budget to sustain current basic services, which has exhausted its resources. Lack of funding has forced humanitarian partners to either reduce or completely terminate services and ongoing projects. This threatens the welfare and lives of the IDPs and refugees.

Refugees and IDPs are particularly more vulnerable to the coronavirus and other diseases because of their living conditions and insufficient sanitation and healthcare services. Thus, the KRG calls on the international community, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and philanthropists to pay greater attention to the vulnerable displaced people.

To learn more about the humanitarian situation or how you can help support the vulnerable displaced people in Kurdistan, please contact the Director of Humanitarian Affairs at the KRG US Representation.

Delovan Barwari
Director of Humanitarian Affairs
Office:    +1 (202) 821-1861
Email:    delovan.barwari@us.gov.krd
Twitter: @DelovanBarwari