April 2009 International Organization for Migration Report on Iraq’s Displaced

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the premier non-governmental organization working with Iraq’s displaced. They cooperate with the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration to provide aid, and have the most extensive polling and up to date information on the plight of internal refugees. They recently released their April report.

Most of Iraq’s displacement happened after the bombing of the Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, Salahaddin in February 2006. Approximately 1.6 million Iraqis lost their homes as a result. Displacement is still happening in the country, but at much lower rates. The majority of displaced are from Baghdad, 63.1% of the total, and are Shiite Arabs, 56.8%. The humanitarian situation of those displaced is getting worse. They lack jobs, housing, and basic services. 66.1% of displaced families have no family member working. In Qadisiyah province 99.0% of the internal refugees there are unemployed. The threat of eviction is another growing issue as many families are squatting.

Some Iraqis are also returning. IOM has counted 49,603 families that have come back by the end of March 2009. Many have found their houses destroyed and little aid to reintegrate into their communities. A few have been threatened and forced to flee again. The government has also stopped registering the displaced. This is important because to receive assistance they need to sign up with the authorities. There are reports that a few provinces are still registering refugees however. The future of all of Iraq’s internal refugees is unclear.

Statistics On Iraq’s Displaced

Origins
Baghdad 63.1%
Diyala 18.6%
Ninewa 6.1%
Salahddin 3.3%
Tamim 3.0%
Anbar 2.7%
Basra 1.6%
Babil 1.0%
Wasit 0.2%
Irbil 0.2%
Dhi Qar 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 56.8%
Arab Sunni 30.8%
Kurd Sunni 4.1%
Assyrian Christian 2.9%
Chaldean Christian 1.8%
Turkmen Shiite 1.2%
Turkmen Sunni 0l9%
Kurd Shiite 0.6%
Armenian Christian 0.1%
Arab Yazidi 0.1%
Kurd Yazidi 0.1%

Unemployment – No Family Member Working
Total 66.1%
Qadisiyah 99.0%
Tamim 98.6%
Basra 89.9%
Wasit 89.7%
Babil 83.3%
Ninewa 79.5%
Dhi Qar 79.0%
Anbar 77.7%
Salahaddin 77.2%
Maysan 71.5%
Muthanna 69.9%
Dohuk 64.6%
Karbala 62.7%
Najaf 56.8%
Baghdad 58.5%
Diyala 58.3%
Irbil 32.6%
Sulaymaniya 30.1%

Issues Facing The Displaced

Security

Security is good across most of the country with central and northern Iraq still having issues. In Babil, Basra, Dhi Qar, Dohuk, Irbil, Karbala, Maysan, Muthanna Qadisiyah, Salahaddin, Sulaymaniya, and Wasit things are stable. Violence has gone up however in Baghdad, especially with car bombs. This has led to more checkpoints and restrictions on movement. In the Karkh district of the capitol, four hundred families live in an area that has often been hit by rockets. Security in Ninewa has also regressed with Mosul being the center of violence. Gun and rocket attacks are common, as well as operations against American and Iraqi forces. This has resulted in many civilian casualties. Security is also bad in Diyala, although it varies from district to district. There has been an increase in bombings in the capitol Baquba. The situation in Anbar has improved, although there are still roadside bombings in Karma and Fallujah. That last city still has insurgents as well. The Highway to Jordan and Kuwait are regularly open however, but there are still curfews in certain cities. The ethnic divisions in Tamim have also led to attacks in Kirkuk. The Haweeja district there also has issues. Displaced in Kirkuk have been accused of stealing and other crimes, resulting in arrests.

Returns

IOM has recorded quite a few returns during this last reporting period. 45 families in Tamim, 24 in Irbil, 75 in Ninewa, 83 in Sulaymniya, and 135 people in Diyala have all gone back to their homes. Those in Ninewa were Christians who fled in October 2008 after they were attacked. Not everything has gone well however. A returning family in Diyala was threatened by militias, while two other families were attacked that led to two deaths. They returned to Tamim as a result. 17 displaced families in the Khalis district of Diyala have also decided to permanently settle there since their kids are enrolled in the local schools, and they have transferred their food rations there.

Evictions and Squatting

The lack of housing has led to dozens of displaced families to squat illegally on government or privately owned land. Increasing these Iraqis are facing the threat of eviction. Five families in Fallujah, Anbar, 70 in the Resafa district of Baghdad, 46 families in Najaf, and 321 individuals in Wasit have all been given orders to leave or are afraid they will get notices to do so soon. Some have not been able to pay their rents.

Health

Iraq’s health care system has deteriorated since the U.S. invasion. The displaced obviously face a tougher situation finding care. Health facilities in Anbar are poor overall. They lack trained staff and equipment. A hospital in Heet for example has a CT scanner and blood testing equipment, but no one knows how to use them. In Babil children have high rates of anemia, diarrhea, and malnutrition. A few cases of typhoid have also been found in Dohuk. In the village of Saida in Tamim there have been a high number of birth defects amongst displaced women. Three women in that village have committed suicide due to stress. Families in Sulaymaniya and Dhi Qar also lack access to health facilities.

Water

Iraq’s water infrastructure is also in a state of disrepair. The water system in Anbar relies upon electricity to operate, but supply is inconsistent. In Qaim, there is only 2-3 hours of water available per day. In Ramadi and Fallujah there is no potable water. In the Shakha community in Babil, displaced families are getting their water from a local river. Three neighborhoods in Babil also lack a sewage system. Displaced families in Kirkuk have been breaking into water pipes. Twelve families in Basra, 336 families in Muthanna, and 54 families in Najaf have no access at all. There are also limited water supplies in Qadisiyah and Salahaddin, along with the on-going drought.

Education

Few displaced families in Babil are attending school. The ones in Dohuk are old and overcrowded. Many Christians that fled Mosul in October 2008 have not enrolled their children because they did not bring the necessary documents with them.

Jobs

Next to housing, jobs is the most pressing issue for the displaced. Unemployment is high for them in every province except for the three in Kurdistan. Female-headed households have it even harder finding employment. Families in Mosul have been reduced to begging and selling cigarettes to support their families. Adhamiya district in Baghdad, Chibayish in Dhi Qar, Khidhir in Muthanna, Sinjar and Baaj in Ninewa, Diwaniya, Hamza, and Shamiya in Ninewa, Daquq and Kirkuk in Tamim, Namaniya, Suwaira, Badra, and Kut in Wasit all have 90% or more unemployment. The worse situations are in Afaq district in Ninewa and Hawiga in Tamim with 100% lacking jobs.

Statistics On Iraq’s Displaced By Province

Anbar

Origins
Baghdad 77.3%
Anbar 12.3%
Basra 6.4%
Ninewa 1.9%
Salahaddin 0.8%
Diyala 0.8%
Babil 0.2%
Dhi Qar 0.1%
Irbil 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Sunni 98.6%
Arab Shiite 0.9%

Families With No Members Working
Total: 77.7%
Fallujah 81.2%
Kaim 81.0%
Heet 78.1%
Ramadi 77.0%
Rutba 76.5%
Haditha 74.9%
Ana 70.1%

Babil

Origins
Baghdad 81.1%
Babil 6.4%
Diyala 6.1%
Salahaddin 2.3%
Anbar 2.0%
Wasit 1.0%
Tamim 0.95
Ninewa 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 94.5%
Arab Sunni 5.2%
Arab Yazidi 0.1%
Kurdish Shiite 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 83.3%
Hashimiya 88.2%
Musayab 84.3%
Mahawil 82.9%
Hila 80.7%

Baghdad

Origins
Baghdad 83.7%
Diyala 13.2%
Anbar 1.5%
Salahaddin 0.8%
Tamim 0.3%
Ninewa 0.2%
Babil 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 71.3%
Arab Sunni 28.4%
Chaldean Christian 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total: 58.3%
Adhamiya 92.8%
Resafa 68.5%
Karkh 54.5%
Mahmoudiya 46.5%

Basra

Origins
Baghdad 52.2%
Salahaddin 25.7%
Anbar 8.2%
Diyala 6.4%
Tamim 4.0%
Babil 2.2%
Basra 0.7%
Wasit 0.3%
Ninewa 0.2%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 99.7%
Arab Sunni 0.1%
Arab Sabean Mandean 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 89.9%
Abu Khaseeb 92.5%
Zubair 95.1%
Basra 89.0%
Shaat Al-Arab 83.4%

Dhi Qar

Origins
Baghdad 66.3%
Salahaddin 14.3%
Diyala 7.7%
Babil 3.6%
Anbar 3.6%
Tamim 2.6%
Wasit 1.3%
Ninewa 0.1%
Muthanna 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 99.4%
Arab Yazidi 0.2%
Arab Sunni 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total: 79.0%
Chibayish 95.3%
Rifai 77.0%
Nassirya 74.9%
Suq al-Shoyokh 72.3%
Shatra 71.8%

Dohuk

Origins
Baghdad 51.5%
Ninewa 47.0%
Tamim 0.6%
Basra 0.4%
Anbar 0.3%

Ethnicity/Religion
Sunni Kurds 40.6%
Christian Chaldean 28.9%
Christian Assyrian 19.0%
Christian Armenian 3.2%
Yazidi Kurd 2.1%
Sunni Arab 2.0%
Shiite Arab 1.8%
Shiite Turkmen 0.6%
Shiite Kurd 0.3%
Sunni Turkmen 0.3%
Christian Kurd 0.2%

Families No Members Working
Total 64.6%
Dohuk 67.4%
Zakho 61.7%
Sumel 61.6%
Amedia 33.0%

Diyala

Origins
Diyala 82.85
Baghdad 16.2%
Anbar 0.5%
Tamim 0.2%
Salahaddin 0.2%
Basra 0.1%
Babil 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Sunni 58.3%
Arab Shiite 31.2%
Kurd Shiite 6.9%
Kurd Sunni 2.5%
Turkmen Shiite 0.6%
Turkmen Sunni 0.5%

Families With No Members Working
Total 58.3%
Khalis 82.5%
Muqdadiya 68.2%
Baladrooz 57.6%
Baquba 55.3%
Khanaqin 20.9%
Kifri 10.3%

Irbil

Origins
Baghdad 49.9%
Ninewa 43.4%
Tamim 2.0%
Diyala 1.7%
Anbar 0.9%
Salahaddin 0.5%
Irbil 0.3%
Basra 0.2%
Babil 0.2%
Qadisiyah 0.1%
Muthanna 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Kurd Sunni 39.7%
Arab Sunni 34.2%
Chaldean Christian 15.4%
Assyrian Christian 4.1%
Arab Shiite 1.1%
Armenian Christian 0.7%
Turkmen Sunni 0.4%
Arab Christian 0.1%
Arab Sabean Mandean 0.1%
Kurd Christian 0.1%
Kurd Shiite 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 32.6%
Irbil 33.1%
Makhmur 32.6%
Soran 32.1%
Koisnjaq 31.6%
Mergasur 30.6%
Shaqlawa 24.6%
Choman 20.4%

Karbala

Origins
Baghdad 56.8%
Diyala 28.0%
Anbar 6.8%
Ninewa 2.8%
Babil 2.45
Tamim 1.65
Salahaddin 1.5%
Karbala 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 98.6%
Turkmen Shiite 1.0%
Arab Yazidi 0.3%

Families With No Members Working
Total 62.7%
Ain al-Tamur 75.0%
Karbala 63.1%
Hindiya 52.9%

Maysan

Origins
Baghdad 83.4%
Diyala 8.0%
Salahaddin 5.0%
Tamim 1.3%
Anbar 0.9%
Wasit 0.6%
Babil 0.3%
Ninewa 0.2%
Basra 0.2%
Maysan 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 99.9%
Arab Sabean Mandean 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 71.5%
Ali Gharbi 75.5%
Amara 74.8%
Qalat Saleh 72.9%
Mejar al-Kabi 70.7%
Maimouna 64.5%
Kahla 64.4%

Muthanna

Origins
Baghdad 69.7%
Diyala 13.3%
Anbar 7.3%
Salahaddin 3.2%
Babil 2.5%
Wasit 1.9%
Ninewa 1.5%
Qadisiyah 0.5%
Irbil 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 99.1%
Arab Sunni 0.5%

Families With No Members Working
Total 69.9%
Khidhir 90.0%
Rumaitha 70.7%
Samawa 68.2%

Najaf

Origins
Baghdad 84.7%
Diyala 7.2%
Ninewa 2.7%
Anbar 2.1%
Tamim 1.3%
Salahaddin 1.3%
Babil 0.8%
Dohuk 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 97.7%
Turkmen Shiite 1.4%
Arab Christian 0.7%
Kurd Shiite 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 56.8%
Kufa 20.5%
Najaf 74.2%

Ninewa

Origins
Baghdad 47.5%
Ninewa 42.6%
Basra 6.0%
Diyala 1.1%
Tamim 0.9%
Salahaddin 0.6%
Anbar 0.5%
Babil 0.4%
Wasit 0.2%
Dhi Qar 0.1%
Qadisiyah 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Assyrian Christian 40.0%
Arab Sunni 24.7%
Chaldean Christian 12.2%
Turkmen Sunni 11.8%
Kurd Sunni 4.2%
Turkmen Shiite 2.1%
Arab Shiite 0.9%
Arab Yazidi 0.3%
Armenian Christian 0.2%
Turkmen Christian 0.2%
Kurd Yazidi 0.2%

Families With No Members Working
Total 79.5%
Sinjar 91.5%
Baaj 90.0%
Hamdaniya 87.3%
Mosul 86.1%
Telafar 85.9%
Shekhan 73.7%
Akre 73.2%
Tilkaif 68.2%
Shikhan 67.4%

Qadisiyah

Origins
Baghdad 76.9%
Diyala 11.3%
Anbar 4.3%
Salahaddin 3.0%
Tamim 2.6%
Babil 1.5%
Wasit 0.3%
Ninewa 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 99.7%
Arab Sunni 0.2%

Families With No Members Working
Total 99.0%
Afaq 100.0%
Diwaniya 99.3%
Hamza 99.3%
Shamiya 95.0%

Salahaddin

Origins
Baghdad 50.0%
Tamim 14.7%
Basra 12.0%
Diyala 10.6%
Salahaddin 4.9%
Anbar 2.1%
Ninewa 2.0%
Irbil 1.7%
Wasit 0.7%
Dhi Qar 0.6%
Babil 0.6%
Qadisiyah 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Sunni 96.7%
Arab Shiite 2.0%
Turkmen Shiite 0.7%
Kurd Sunni 0.4%
Turkmen Sunni 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 77.2%
Tooz 82.9%
Shirqat 82.4%
Tikrit 81.1%
Baiji 74.2%
Daur 69.5%
Samarra 59.3%

Sulaymaniya

Origins
Baghdad 47.1%
Diyala 44.7%
Anbar 3.1%
Ninewa 1.8%
Salahaddin 1.1%
Tamim 0.6%
Basra 0.5%
Babil 0.4%
Wasit 0.2%
Dhi Qar 0.1%
Sulaymniya 0.1%
Muthanna 0.1%
Karbala 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Sunni 60.2%
Kurd Sunni 24.8%
Arab Shiite 10.2%
Kurd Shiite 2.85
Kurd Yazidi 0.3%
Chaldean Christian 0.3%
Arab Sabean Mandean 0.3%
Turkmen Sunni 0.3%
Assyrian Christian 0.1%
Arab Christian 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 30.1%
Halabja 41.7%
Kalar 25.8%
Sharbazher 0.0%
Sulaymniya 29.3%

Tamim

Origins
Diyala 25.6%
Tamim 22.6%
Salahaddin 15.7%
Ninewa 15.2%
Baghdad 15.1%
Anbar 4.1%
Irbil 1.2%
Basra 0.3%
Sulaymaniya 0.1%
Babil 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Sunni 52.2%
Kurd Sunni 20.0%
Turkmen Shiite 16.5%
Arab Shiite 3.3%
Turkmen Sunni 3.0%
Assyrian Christian 1.8%
Kurd Shiite 1.2%
Chaldean Christian 0.9%
Armenian Christian 0.2%
Arab Yazidi 0.1%

Families With No Members Working
Total 98.6%
Hawiga 100%
Daquq 97.9%
Kirkuk 98.6%

Wasit

Origins
Baghdad 63.8%
Diyala 33.4%
Babil 0.9%
Anbar 0.8%
Tamim 0.6%
Salahaddin 04%
Basra 0.1%

Ethnicity/Religion
Arab Shiite 99.5%
Kurd Shiite 0.2%
Arab Sunni 0.1%

Families With No Member Working
Total 89.7%
Namaniya 93.4%
Suwaira 90.0%
Badra 90.0%
Kut 90.0%
Hai 88.4%

SOURCES

International Organization for Migration, “IOM Emergency Needs Assessments; Post February 2006 Displacement In Iraq, Monthly Report,” 4/1/09