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The International Organization for Migration says displaced Iraqis returning home are faced with a daunting task rebuilding their lives.
IOM says most displaced Iraqis who have returned home have been unable to meet basic needs and in some cases their daily struggle has become worse than when they were displaced. Patrick Maigua reports from Geneva.
In its latest assessment report on the needs of returned displaced Iraqi's, the International Organization for Migration says basic supplies such as food and fuel were priority needs, but hard to come by. Unemployment amongst the returnees remains high with 34 per cent of the IOM-assessed families reporting that they were unable to find work. IOM spokesperson in Geneva Jemini Pandya says female-headed households, were particularly vulnerable with nearly two thirds of women heading the households unable to find work.
Shelter, water, electricity and access to health care also pose major concerns. Thirty-four per cent of returnee families who have gone back home were partially or completely destroyed. And with no means of income, they are in desperate need of assistance to help them rebuild their homes. The government's efforts to encourage and support returns through the provision of a US$840 one-time grant have also only been only partially successful. Of the families that we have assessed, only 44 per cent of them have applied for this grant with only 39 per cent actually receiving it. The vast majority of returnees say they have received no other form of individual assistance.
IOM says it will over the next 12 months provide assistance to over 6,500 returnee families to rebuild their lives. The assistance will be in the form of grants to help the unemployed returnees start their own businesses and to re-establish employment and income for them. Patrick Maigua UN Radio Geneva.
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Jemini Pandya, IOM spokesperson in Geneva cut 1
"Shelter, water, electricity and access to health care also pose major concerns. Thirty-four per cent of returnee families who have gone back home were partially or completely destroyed. And with no means of income, they are in desperate need of assistance to help them rebuild their homes. The government's efforts to encourage and support returns through the provision of a US$840 one-time grant have only been only partially successful. Of the families that we have assessed, only 44 per cent of them have applied for the grant with only 39 per cent actually receiving it. The vast majority of returnees said they have received no other form of individual assistance."
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