Human Rights Watch criticized the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq for continuing to prevent some 1,200 Arab families from returning to their homes in the region after liberating their villages from ISIS more than 6 years ago.
The organization pointed out that this comes despite the fact that the Kurdish authorities allowed the Kurdish population to return to their homes in the neighboring villages, in Rabia district of Nineveh Governorate.
"The Kurdish authorities prevent thousands of residents of Arab villages from returning to their homes without any legal reason," the organization said.
She added that "the fact that the Kurdistan Regional Government has allowed the inhabitants of the neighboring villages from the Kurds to return, suggests that the Arabs are prohibited from returning as punishment."
In its statement, the organization revealed that it had interviewed people from each of the five villages - Jadriya, Mahmudiyah, Cairo, Sweden, and Sufia - which the organization had briefly seized on August 3, 2014, and that Kurdish security forces had recovered within days.
The residents said that Kurdish security forces still controlled the area, and were preventing their return. They estimated that 1,200 families were forbidden to return to the five villages.
The organization stressed that while the authorities can restrict the movement of individuals under international law in conflict areas for security reasons, the restrictions should be in accordance with international law, and designed in a way that serves their legitimate purpose and is proportionate and non-discriminatory.
The organization added that "the Kurdish authorities have no justification for preventing these Arab families from returning to their villages, as they have the same right as the Kurdish residents of villages to return to their lands and homes."