The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement announced on Tuesday that 1,841 Yazidi IDPs have returned to their hometown, Shengal.

According to the ministry, which decided to close all migrant camps until the end of July, the IDPs from Shengal were staying in camps on the border with Dohuk and returned to their lands voluntarily.

It was reported that an aid of 4 million dinars in cash was provided to the returning families and their housing needs were met.

The Yazidi IDPs who return home after years of longing are welcomed by the Shengal Autonomous Administration and its affiliated institutions.

The KDP, the ruling party in the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, has been preventing the return of Yazidi IDPs who moved to Duhoq, Hewler (Erbil) and Zakho after the ISIS genocide ten years ago.

Shengal (Sinjar) is the last contiguous settlement area of the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis were murdered and thousands of women and children were taken prisoner in the 3 August 2014 onslaught on Shengal by ISIS militants. While ISIS gangs began murdering Yazidis in Shengal, the Peshmerga left, leaving the Yazidis behind. HPG-YJA Star and YPG-YPJ fighters came to the Yazidi people's aid in the face of ISIS aggression.

After months of resistance, the fighters who saved the Yazidi people from a larger genocide liberated Shengal. After the liberation of the city, the HPG and YPG/YPJ subsequently withdrew in 2017. People who returned to their land after Shengal's independence reformed, established defensive units and built their institutions.

UN bodies and the European Parliament have recognised ISIS crimes as genocide, as have Armenia, Australia, the US House of Representatives, the Scottish Parliament and the German Parliament (Bundestag).