Fulfilling Secretary Pompeo’s pledge to increase demining support for Iraqi minority communities

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SUMMARY: At last year’s Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged $17 million to expand demining activities in Ninewa, Iraq, the ancestral homeland of Iraqi minority communities ISIS systematically persecuted and targeted for genocide. Since making this pledge in July 2018, the Department of State has spent over $37 million to expand and sustain demining operations across Ninewa that have increased the safety and security of Iraqi minority communities. This funding has enabled the deployment of over 45 demining and community liaison teams in Ninewa – more than any other international donor supports – to conduct the dangerous and lifesaving work of removing buried ISIS bombs and booby traps as well as instilling safe behaviors in local communities through risk education. Since Secretary Pompeo’s announcement, these teams cleared more than 4,670 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other explosive hazards left by ISIS across Ninewa and provided life-saving risk education to more than 112,000 Iraqis living in Ninewa as well as displaced residents of Ninewa living in internally displaced person camps. This timely assistance enabled restoration of critical infrastructure and essential services, cultivation of fertile farmland, and reconstruction of damaged homes and businesses, laying the groundwork for displaced minority communities to return to their ancestral homelands and rebuild their lives.


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Published: Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Last Updated: Thursday, November 2, 2023

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