Minister of Foreign Affairs Receives Dutch Technical Delegation to Investigate the Air Strike on the City of Hawija in 2015

On May 26, 2022, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein received the Dutch delegation headed by the Minister of State, Ms Winnie Sorgdrager and her accompanying delegation, at the Ministry’s headquarters.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister commended the efforts exerted by the Dutch government and parliament to determine the circumstances of the wrong raid which resulted in a number of Iraqi civilians in June 2015, confirming the importance of communicating with the military commanders in the Ministry of Defence and meeting eyewitnesses from the same affected area. They discussed how to undo the damage to the city and those affected.

The two sides discussed the current situation on the Iraqi and regional arena, calling upon the Dutch companies and investors to enter Iraq and invest in the health, education and water management sectors to contribute to creating a sound social development.

On her part, Ms Winnie welcomed these ideas and visions, confirming that the Dutch government and parliament are following up the Hawija issue carefully and want to get to the truth because the Dutch people want the truth and live in peace with other peoples.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Minister affirmed that the Netherlands has always stood with Iraq and helped it. It is possible to continue these good efforts in areas characteristic of the Netherlands such as water management and agriculture, and sending students to study in the Netherlands, given their international reputation.