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Iraq + 1 more

Iraq: Bi-weekly Protection Update (19 February - 4 March 2018)

Attachments

Main highlights:

  • During the reporting period, over 1,132 IDP families arrived or returned to camps, while at least 1,783 families departed them. IDPs in Jeda'a camps in Ninewa, have expressed concern about living conditions in the camp, particularly related to services and the presence of armed actors.

  • UNHCR and partners conducted a series of protection assessments in Ninewa to monitor returns in parts of Telafar, west Mosul, Ba'aj City and Sinjar, highlighting among other things the remaining impediments to returns.

  • On 22 February, authorities in Anbar forced 15 families from Kilo 18 camps to return to areas within Anbar. On 26 February, the 524 IDP families living in an informal settlement in Tikrit, Salah al-Din were notified that they would need to leave the complex within one week. Following extensive advocacy efforts by the UNHCR and partners, authorities reportedly suspended these plans until the school year has finished.

Affected Population

3.5 million have returned to their places of origin while

2.6 million are still displaced in Center-South areas

Displacement

During the reporting period, over 1,132 IDP families arrived or returned to camps, while at least 1,783 families departed the camps. IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix estimates that the number of IDPs in Iraq who have been displaced since 2014 is currently approximately 2.27 million. The recorded number of returnees since mid-2015 is 3.57 million. The main causes for displacement continue to be the lack of services (including electricity, WASH, health, education), as well as limited livelihood opportunities and shelter options (in part due to high rent prices) as well as cases of collective punishment.

New arrivals to camps in Erbil Governorate in recent months have consistently included a high number of female headed households. Some of the recent arrivals pointed out that their husbands are working in Mosul City, but as their salaries are not sufficient to meet the needs of the family, the wives and children were obliged to move to camps. During an intention survey in early March in camps in Erbil, UNHCR found that 80 per cent of the assessed population do not intend leave the camps in the near future.

IDPs in Jeda’a camps in Ninewa have expressed concerns about living conditions in the camp, particularly related to a lack of adequate services and the presence of armed actors.
On 28 February, local police in Jeda’a 5 reportedly confiscated civil identification documents from IDPs from Shirqat (Salah al-Din) and Hawiga (Kirkuk) to control their movement. IDPs have reported that they continue to receive threats, including threats of arbitrary arrest. Random arrests in the past have left female headed households and widowed women reportedly feeling uncomfortable, especially at night. The presence of armed actors in Jeda’a camp has been a long standing protection issue that continues to require advocacy. Many families in the camp find themselves in a vulnerable situation as they are alleged to have links to extremists and in the current climate are essentially limited to life in the camp. UNHCR is coordinating closely with the Protection Cluster and camp management to try to address these concerns.

A UNHCR protection partner conducted Focus Group Discussions in Hamam Al Alil camp with IDPs from Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, and Anbar governorates to identify concerns that prevent them from returning. Overall families listed the lack of services and livelihood opportunities, the destruction of their homes as well as the presence of explosive hazards and armed actors as the primary impediments. IDPs from Shirqat in Salah al-Din with alleged links to extremists, particularly female headed households, expressed their intention to remain in camps due to fear of government-affiliated armed groups, despite knowing from relatives that services in their areas of origin are available and that the overall security situation has improved. However, for some the main impediment is a lack of livelihood opportunities. In Anbar, collective punishment, the presence of explosive devices in homes and the fear being arrested at checkpoints were cited as reasons for not returning. In the last week of February alone, UNHCR partners monitored over 29 families who reportedly tried to return to their areas of origin in east Anbar but were prevented from doing so and have thus been re-displaced. Similar incidents were reported in Ninewa and Salah al-Din governorates. For Hawiga, the concerns were similar, but also included the large scale destruction of houses (Al-Multaqa and Al-Ryadh sub-districts).