UN top envoy delivers occupancy certificates to Yazidi returnees to Sinjar

The Yazidi population in Sinjar has suffered decades-long systematic discrimination, limiting access to their land and houses, making them vulnerable to forced evictions, relocations and land disputes.

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) handed over more than 200 occupancy certificates to Yazidi returnees to Sinjar, a move aimed at facilitating the return of the displaced community.

The Yazidi population in Sinjar has suffered decades-long systematic discrimination, limiting access to their land and houses, making them vulnerable to forced evictions, relocations and land disputes. These factors have made it challenging for returnees to access official documents to prove their ownership and occupancy rights when reintegrating in their communities or when applying for compensation for damaged properties.

At a ceremony at the village of Solagh, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Ms. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, delivered occupancy certificates to a number of beneficiaries and a Yazidi community representative (Mukhtar).

"The handover of occupancy certificates is a very concrete way to contribute to a better and dignified return of many people," Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert said at the ceremony.

"We all know how important housing, land, and property rights are, in particular for minorities, and it's about time to document that what is yours is yours; that you own it," she said, adding that the United Nations family will continue to support the Yazidis and other communities.

Mr. Muslim Qazimi, UN-Habitat Programme Manager, highlighted that more than 2,800 certificates have been issued and distributed to Yazidi beneficiaries since 2016, and an additional 5,000 certificates will be delivered by September 2020. The project covers different communities, but it is the Yazidi community whose property rights are most often challenged. UN-Habitat is working with the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Justice and concerned local authorities to issue a legal decree to formalize the occupancy certificates issued by UN-Habitat as full land ownership titles approved by the Federal Government of Iraq.

Combined with the rehabilitation of war-damaged houses and basic infrastructure, issuance, and delivery of occupancy certificates is a major step forward for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq.