BAGHDAD

Iraq has closed the last camp for displaced civilians in the northern Saladin province, Immigration Minister Evan Jabro said on Wednesday.

"The northern Karama camp in Tikrit, Saladin, has been closed and 48 families who lived there have returned to their original areas in the Baiji and Sharqat cities in northern Iraq,” Jabro said in a statement.

He said the immigration ministry has worked to secure a voluntary return of the displaced civilians to their areas after restoring security there.

The Iraqi government has closed 17 displacement camps over the past two months, including eight in the Saladin province.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch warned that the closure of Iraq's displaced persons camps on a short notice has forced some residents into homelessness and poverty.”

“The [Iraqi] authorities should not force camp residents out without first ensuring they have alternative access to shelter, food, water, health care, and other basic services in a safe and secure environment,” HRW said in a statement.

Since 2014, millions of Iraqis have fled from the cities of Nineveh, Kirkuk, Saladin (north), Anbar (west), Diyala (east), and Babel (south) after the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group took control of large areas of the country.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara