The security forces of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) are currently keeping the roads to the Maxmur refugee camp closed. As a result, the approximately 12,000 inhabitants of the camp have been isolated from the outside world for four days.

The closure of the roads took place after the fatal attack on a restaurant in Hewlêr (Erbil) on 17 July, in which three people, including a member of the Turkish consulate, Sulaymaniyah and Maxmur. While the other roads are now open again, the access road to Maxmur Camp remains closed. The security forces currently allow the abandonment of the camp only in particularly urgent illness cases.

Meanwhile, the 16 young women from Maxmur, who were arrested in Hewler shortly after the attack on the Turkish consulate employee, have been released. While eleven of them were released on the same day they had been arrested, the remaining five were released yesterday.