US official commends KRG for allowing humanitarian aid into Rojava

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The US deputy ambassador to Iraq on Tuesday commended the Kurdistan Region for facilitating the crossing of humanitarian aid to northeast Syria (Rojava) during a visit to Zakho district.

Gregory LoGerfo said he had visited the Fishkhabur border crossing and commended the staff at the crossing “for facilitating the crossing of humanitarian and NGO workers into Northeast Syria as well as the safe crossing of returning Syrian refugees and Syrian patients who need to travel into the Iraqi Kurdistan Region for care in IKR [Kurdistan Region] hospitals.”

Home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people, Rojava has depended on the Semalka-Fishkhabur border crossing for aid deliveries. The border was closed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) due to political rifts with the ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Rojava, but it was opened in 2016 in order to allow humanitarian goods, medicine, and food across.

Following that, the border crossing has been intermittently closed and opened due to Turkish shelling and then the coronavirus pandemic.

LoGerfo’s statement came during his visit to the historic Dalal Bridge in Zakho.

“The United States is proud to fund projects totaling more than 11 million dollars to preserve and restore cultural heritage sites in Dohuk, Erbil, Sulaimania, Babylon, and Mosul,” he said.

The United States in September announced a $670,000 fund to restore a part of Erbil’s citadel and open an educational center for children, summing up the total amount provided to the citadel to $1.5 million.