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Iraq

Iraq: IOM monitoring and needs assessments - Assessment of Iraqi return - Nov 2009

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As displacement in Iraq has become limited to isolated incidents and return continues slowly, the focus turns to how best to assist the nearly 1.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country, whether they wish to return, integrate into the place of displacement, or go elsewhere. While IOM assessments show that approximately 53% of interviewed post-2006 IDPs wish to return, another 45% of those interviewed wish to integrate permanently into their places of displacement or move to a third location.

Whether it is a matter of transport home, rebuilding property and livelihood or starting a permanent life in a different location, IDP and returnee families remain a vulnerable population in Iraq and are in urgent need of assistance to make their choices sustainable.

Since December 2007, families displaced by the sectarian violence which occurred in the wake of the February 22, 2006 Samarra mosque bombing have been returning in small numbers to Iraq both from internal displacement and displacement abroad. In cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM), as well as local governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, IOM has identified approximately 58,110 returnee families and conducted in-depth needs assessment interviews with 4,061 of these families. This data is compiled into a database designed to aid the Iraqi government and other key stakeholders in assessing and reporting on the issue.

This collected information is explored in this report for a better understanding of key questions, such as where returnee families are, from where they have returned, why they have returned, and what they need in order to successfully restart their lives.

According to IOM assessments of 227,472 post-2006 IDP families in Iraq, almost 90% of post-2006 displacement originated in Baghdad, Diyala, and Ninewa governorates. The concentration of return is similar, with a high number of returns also occurring in Anbar.

Once families have returned, they are in need of assistance to rebuild. Many are searching for a reliable source of income. Nationwide, returnee families list food, non-food items, and fuel as their priority needs.