The residents of the Makhmur (Maxmur) refugee camp, who had to flee the camp following attacks by ISIS, have decided to return to Makhmur after the UNHCR and the local government failed to keep their promise to find an alternative site for the Makhmur residents. The camp is still under threat.

The inhumane ISIS organisation, that now calls itself Islamic State (IS), attacked the Makhmur area in early August, causing the residents of the refugee camp to take refuge in the towns of Rania, Hajji Awa and Charkurna for over a month. The refugees are living in overcrowded conditions in schools and mosques.

The camp residents say the Kurdish government and the UNHCR have made no efforts to improve their conditions and that they have therefore decided to return to the Makhmur Refugee Camp, despite the risks involved. The UNHCR and the local government had promised in the first few days that a new camp would be built, but this promise is yet to be fulfilled.

The Makhmur area, which is 40 km from Hewler (Erbil), the capital of the Federal Kurdistan Region, was attacked by ISIS gangs on 6 August. The residents of the refugee camp anticipated that massacres might occur and evacuated the camp before the gangs arrived. On 10 August the camp and the Makhmur area was liberated by a joint defence force including HPG guerrillas and militias from Makhmur.