Fire injures one, destroys tents at Yazidi IDP camp
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - One person was injured and several tents were destroyed by fire in a camp housing displaced Yazidis in Zakho, northern Duhok province on Friday.
"The fire started at 7am in the morning at Bajed Kandala camp, burning down five tents," Avindar Izzat, spokesperson for Zakho civil defense, told Rudaw.
"One person who caught fire is in good health now,” he added.
An investigation has been launched into the cause of the blaze.
Bajed Kandala houses over 1,600 Yazidi families, according to data provided by the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR). It is located near Zakho city in Duhok province. Similar fires have occurred in this and other camps in the past.
Nearly eight years after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS), thousands of Yazidis are still living in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP). Despite financial incentives, many families are reluctant to leave the camps because of continuing insecurity in their hometowns, a lack of reconstruction of their destroyed homes and businesses, and little in the way of basic services.
Baghdad wants to close all IDP camps in the country, but human rights advocates have said all returns must be voluntary.
[Source: Rûdaw English]
