A/HRC/44/41/Add.1 internally displaced Yazidi women and their children. This issue requires more mediation and social cohesion efforts at the community level. 54. Other ethnic and religious minorities have also been subjected to sexual violence by ISIL, including Christians, Turkmen and Shabak, and need support. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the efforts of the Government of Iraq to adopt a law on support to Yazidi women survivors and the commendable survivor grant programme established in 2019 by the Ministry of Migration and Displacement for urgent financial relief for Yazidi women who were liberated from ISIL captivity, and recommends that they be extended to all survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, regardless of ethnicity or tribal identification. VI. Prospects and challenges for the achievement of durable solutions 55. While 4.6 million internally displaced persons16 have returned to their places of origin, returns have slowed since 2018. 17 Of the 1.4 million people who remain in internal displacement in Iraq, about 70 per cent have been displaced for longer than three years. 18 Recent surveys indicate that around 90 per cent do not intend to return in the short term, and 70 per cent in the long term. 19 56. Unlocking protracted displacement in Iraq is a real challenge. The Government of Iraq has announced the goal of all internally displaced persons returned home by the end of 2020. Numerous obstacles, however, remain. At the same time, local integration is rejected outright by the authorities in hosting areas, arguing that the return of displaced persons would change their demographics. For those who managed to return, policies should ensure the conditions necessary for returnees to resume their lives. Without those conditions, they risk falling back into displacement. 57. Destroyed or damaged housing and other issues relating to housing, land and property rights, such as the occupation of property by others and lack of documentation to prove tenure, remain significant obstacles to the return of internally displaced persons to their place of origin. In some cases, these issues can be compounded by long-standing housing, land and property disputes. Current reconstruction efforts, while crucial, struggle to address the extent of the destruction. The Housing Reconstruction Strategy in Governorates affected by Terrorism and Military Operations, developed with the technical support of the international community and endorsed by the Council of Ministers in June 2019, is a positive step to support durable solutions for internally displaced persons whose houses were damaged or destroyed in the conflict, and now needs to be fully operationalized. The Compensation Law requires larger budgetary allocations and more information outreach to internally displaced persons and returnees for its effective implementation. Cumbersome, lengthy and in some instances unclear claim procedures have high evidentiary requirements that cannot be met by persons lacking sufficient documentation because of their situation of displacement. Many claims are left unprocessed, while allegations of corruption, nepotism and discrimination in the processing of claims are also a matter of concern. Additional measures should be taken to ensure that internally displaced persons and returnees can claim compensation through awareness-raising, legal assistance and solutions to address lack of civil documentation. 58. Contamination of land by explosive remnants of war, restrictions on freedom of movement and lack of livelihood opportunities in the area of origin are other major obstacles to return. Female-headed households have been particularly affected by the lack of livelihood opportunities. During group discussions with women both inside and outside camp settings, they shared their experiences of living in poverty and stressed that one of their main needs was to receive the tools and training to start income-generating activities. Some of them stated that 16 17 18 19 12 International Organization for Migration, Displacement Tracking Matrix, November – December 2019. The number of returns spiked in the second half of 2019 following camp closures and consolidation. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview 2020. See www.impact-repository.org/document/reach/3867598a/REACH-AWG-IRQ-PPT-MCNA-VIIJoint-Analysis-Workshop-Prelim.-findings-September2019.pdf. Data collected between mid-June and mid-August before camp closures and consolidation.