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Iraq

Iraq: Returns of Internally Displaced continue at a slow pace, pick up in parts of Baghdad

IOM's latest Returnee Needs Assessment carried out in coordination with Iraq's Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) confirms that families displaced by sectarian violence and military operations are returning in numbers to certain areas of the capital where security has improved over the past months.

This is particularly the case in Bagdad's eastern Sadr City, where according to the MoDM, more than 4,000 families (an estimated 24,000 individuals) have returned to their former homes, despite sporadic clashes between Iraqi Forces and insurgents.

The report notes that most health facilities and schools in Sadr City have reopened, as well as some shops in the Jamil wholesale market, although recent fire damage, lack of electricity and sanitation still prevents the majority of market shops from resuming their activities.

In May, returns also gathered momentum in Baghdad's Rasheed sub-district, with up to 1,000 displaced Shia and Sunni families returning to the Awareej area to date.

Reasons cited by families for taking the decision to return include improved security and reconciliation among various groups, particularly between tribal leaders, the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) and local authorities.

Other governorates are also experiencing returns, although to a lesser degree. The report underlines however, that in many neighbourhoods or cities, families cannot return to their former homes, either because it was destroyed, is currently occupied by squatters or because of on-going insecurity.

In Baghdad's Dora neighbourhood, some Iraqis families cannot return to their original homes because this area remains divided along sectarian lines.

According to the report, returnees and internally displaced people throughout the country continue to face a chronic shortage of services, with almost half of the families in some areas saying they have intermittent access to government food rations, which remain largely insufficient for their needs. Access to potable water, health care and medicines also remains problematic throughout the country, particularly for poor families. Only 35 per cent of the displaced country-wide report they have access to fuel.

Access to education remains difficult for displaced children because their families have often lost food ration cards, which are required when enrolling in local schools. The fact that they've missed school in their area of displacement also means that many face problems when they want to enrol once they've returned home.

In some governorates, such as Basrah or Muthanna, local authorities have recently issued warnings to displaced families and resident squatters to evacuate public properties or face up to three months incarceration and/or fines.

In others, such as Salah al-Din, the police continue to search for and evict displaced families coming from the neighbouring Samara district or Diyala and Anbar governorates for fear that they represent a security risk.

More than 2.7 million Iraqis remain internally displaced, more than 1.5 million of them since February 2006 when the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in Samarra triggered a new displacement crisis in the country.

For more information, please contact Dana Graber Ladek, IOM Iraq, Tel: +962 79 611 1759. Email: dgraber@iom-iraq.net .