Despite improvements in the overall security situation, sustained humanitarian assistance and protection is required for an overwhelming majority of Iraq's internally displaced persons (IDPs) and a growing number of families who are returning to their governorate of origin, says IOM's latest displacement and return report published today.
The report, based on in-depth nationwide interviews carried out since February 2006 by IOM staff among more than 1.3 million IDPs, highlights the fact that most families continue to live in precarious conditions, occupying land or property illegally, with little or no access to regular humanitarian assistance and to basic commodities.
Furthermore, the report notes that many families return to destroyed homes and infrastructures, with some needing assistance to repossess their occupied properties.
The report adds that the growing flow of returnees is adding pressure on already fragile public infrastructures. In the district of Baghdad, which has witnessed most of the returns so far, educational facilities are stretched to the limit, with up to 94 children crammed in one classroom in schools where 1,500 pupils share four toilets.
In some governorates, such as Salah al-Din, a lack of school facilities means that children are forced to work to support their families. In the three northern governorates, the report notes that Arab displaced families continue to be affected by a lack of Arabic-language schools
The report says that improved security and increased humanitarian access have simply revealed more pressing needs. For instance, in Kirkuk's Daquq district, assessments carried out by IOM monitors have found substantial groups of IDPs with chronic health problems exacerbated by lack of access to adequate food, healthcare, water and sanitation facilities.
In the south-western governorate of Najaf, several districts suffer from a total lack of facilities, with raw sewage swamping streets and affecting impoverished communities.
In many parts of the country, medical infrastructures remain understaffed and undersupplied. In the southern governorate of Basra, IOM continues to provide basic medical supplies to hospitals, as well as essential aid to particularly vulnerable displaced, host or returning families.
According to the report, displaced and returning families are in dire need of employment opportunities and many continue to suffer from conflict-driven displacement stress.
There are an estimated number 2.8 million IDPs in Iraq, of which 1.6 million have been displaced since February 2006 when the bombing of the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra triggered a new upsurge in violence. More than 1.5 million additional Iraqis are refugees, living predominantly in neighbouring countries.
Returnee reports, along with IOM's regular reporting on displacement, including governorate profiles, biweekly updates, tent camp updates, and yearly and mid-year reviews, are available at http://www.iom-iraq.net/library.html#IDP.
For more information, please contact Rafiq Tschannen, IOM Iraq, Tel: +962 79 516 2285 Email: rtschannen@iom.int