Syria Kurds say deal made for 31,000 displaced Iraqis to go home

Syria's Kurds on Thursday announced a deal with Baghdad for 31,000 displaced Iraqis, mostly women and children, in camps in northeastern Syria to return home to Iraq.

Tens of thousands of people live in the camps, which swelled enormously during the months-long battle that culminated in the defeat of the last vestige of the Islamic State group's "caliphate" by a Kurdish-led alliance.

"A delegation from the Iraqi cabinet visited the autonomous administration to discuss the return to Iraq of displaced Iraqis, estimated to number 31,000, and an agreement was reached," Kurdish official Mahmud Kero told AFP.

"So far 4,000 people have signed up and we are waiting for the Iraqi government to open up the Iraqi border to start," he said.

Kero said many of the displaced did not have Iraqi identity papers, including children born on Syrian soil.

"We have asked the Iraqi government to find a solution," he said.

An Iraqi official said on Tuesday that Baghdad was making preparations for the return .