More than 1.6 million internally displaced by Iraq conflict says IOM

More than 1.6 million people have been internally displaced in 1,577 locations across Iraq since the beginning of the year following unrest in Anbar and Ninewa governorates, according to IOM’s latest Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

The August 28th DTM shows that a total of 850,858 people have been displaced since the fighting broke out in the northern part of the country in August. Most of the displaced have found refuge in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and in the adjacent districts of Ninewa and Diyala.

“Such overwhelming numbers point to a longer-term crisis – one that may find many more in need of critical lifesaving assistance, especially as many fleeing into the KRI have already been on the move for weeks and months,” said International Organization for Migration (IOM) Emergency Coordinator in Iraq Brian Kelly.

IOM’s DTM is a sophisticated information management tool that tracks the locations, needs, and vulnerabilities of IDPs throughout the country to inform the actions of whole humanitarian community.

According to Kelly: “The current crisis in Iraq is unparalleled. We are witnessing people who had livelihoods, families and relatively stable lives arriving exhausted physically, financially and emotionally. Everyone is living in a state of acute anxiety about what will come next, as many are unable to return home.”

In the KRI, uprooted Iraqis have settled temporarily in towns like Khanke, Shariya, Zahko, Shekhan and in and around Dahok City.

Families told IOM of their long journey from Mosul to Sinjar City, then to the Sinjar Mountains, across Syria and back into Iraq via the Feshkapour border crossing, finally landing in various locations across the Dahok Governorate. Most now live in schools, churches, mosques, parks and in unfinished apartment buildings with no water or electricity.

IOM has distributed 200 substantial family non-food item (NFI) kits – including kerosene cooking stoves, large water coolers, kitchen sets, floor mats, mattresses, bedding and towels, laundry soap and toiletry items – to displaced families from Mosul City, Ninewa and Sinjar, who have settled in the Mangesh district of Dahok Governorate.

For former teacher Abdullah, who has already been displaced four times with his six children, this help came at the right time. “We had no way to cook and had been sleeping on concrete for weeks,” he said.

“Most of the internally displaced (IDPs) had to walk for several days to reach safety. Many of their loved ones were killed or abducted by Islamic State (IS) forces. Groups of people were reportedly forced by IS to jump off mountain cliffs, while others were taken away to an uncertain fate,” noted Brian Kelly.

“A lot of people will need also psychosocial help over the coming weeks to cope with what they have witnessed,” added IOM Chief of Mission in Iraq Thomas Weiss.

Displaced Iraqis in Mangesh include Yezidi, Christian and Muslim groups. They were all displaced from Mosul City, Sinjar City and surrounding areas.

In response to the crisis, to date IOM has distributed 23,377 NFI kits, 16,685 food parcels on behalf of the WFP, 2,050 women’s dignity kits on behalf of the UNFPA, and 1,513 hygiene kits on behalf of UNICEF. IOM has also provided transport to 17,242 internally displaced persons since 4th August.

It plans to distribute some 60,000 NFI kits and 10,000 tents, while also addressing health and mental health needs among the IDPs through mobile health clinics and by supporting existing local health infrastructure.

IOM donors include the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the USA, Japan, Sweden, Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the European Union (ECHO) and UN agencies.

The DTM report is available online here.

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