Anbar was the first province in Iraq to lose a city to the
insurgency starting over two years of displacement. Now that the governorate is
being liberated thousands are returning to their homes, but to dire conditions.
There are very few aid agencies working in Anbar, and they along with the
provincial and central government lack the funds to adequately provide for the
displaced. There is widespread destruction in the freed cities, no working
economies and only the barest of basic services, but despite these dilemmas
more and more people are making the trip back to their regions.
Tens of thousands of displaced have gone back to their homes
in Anbar after the recent victories over the Islamic State. According to the Mayor of Ramadi for
example, almost 42,000 of the 63,000 families that were originally in the city
have returned, and thousands more are joining them. Another factor is that
mortars have hit the displacement Camp
Salam in southern Baghdad three times in three months leading to a
min-exodus from there back to Anbar. The rush to go back to Ramadi began with
the Sunni
Endowment making the call shortly after the city was freed, despite it not
being safe due to hundreds of IEDs left behind by the insurgents. Even after
over a hundred casualties from those bombs, and the Iraqi Security Forces
trying to stop the waves of people, returns have continued almost unabated. Now
that Fallujah and Garma have been freed there will likely be a new mass of
people going back there in the near future.
The problem is that people returning to those cities cannot
expect much. In Ramadi some schools
have re-opened, and electricity is running at the government center and some
hospitals, but outside of those areas there are only local generators at work
to provide power. Otherwise most of the bridges
in the city spanning the Euphrates that bisect the city are destroyed, along
with the water purification and power plants, and many of the electricity poles
have been knocked down. There is also no running
water, forcing the government and aid agencies to ship in bottles and
setting up pumps to bring in unpurified water from the river. People will find
the same situation when Fallujah and Garma are opened up to returns. That means
the displaced might be happy to be back in their cities, but they can hardly
begin rebuilding as most of the basic services are non-existent right now.
To make the situation worse there is no money for
reconstruction. The Anbar government and Baghdad have no funds for rebuilding
because the economy is in a recession due to the collapse of oil prices made
worse by the cost of the war. Aid agencies have only gotten a fraction of the
money they have asked for, and there are few
of them in the province because it is an active warzone. The U.S. tried to help
the situation by recently hosting a conference
to garner international donations for humanitarian relief in Iraq. That was
able to raise several millions, but it will likely take months to work its way
through the bureaucracy and actually reach people in Anbar. Iraq has a state
run economy so if it is broke and there is little aid coming through that will
mean the province’s cities will have few job opportunities, which is another
crucial missing element along with services to impede the rebuilding process.
Anbar has the largest displacement problem in the country.
Many are obviously anxious about going back to their cities and homes. The
question now is what kind of life will they have once they have returned. The
situation seems bleak, and some governorate officials are already afraid this
will create a backlash of resentment. The problem is that there is no way the
humanitarian situation will improve any time soon because there is simply no
money for the province. That may cause continued instability in Anbar, which
will only bode ill for the future.
SOURCES
Arraf, Jane,
“Nearby, but far away: Why aid doesn't make it from Baghdad to refugee camp,”
Christian Science Monitor, 7/25/16
Buratha News, “major
return of displaced families to Ramadi,” 7/20/16
George, Susannah,
“UN warns of dangers as Iraqis displaced by Islamic State return home,”
Associated Press, 7/28/16
Al Mada, “Anbar
Council acknowledges the difficulty of returning to Ramadi and the tragic
situation of the displaced,” 7/28/16
- “Failure to
address the IDP crisis prevents Anbar Council from returning to Ramadi,”
7/30/16
- “Fallujah needs
three months for the return of its inhabitants,” 8/1/16
- “International
organization: Anbaris are returning to their areas despite United Nations
warnings,” 8/3/16
- “Ramadi mayor: the
return of 60% of the displaced families to the city and rehabilitation
operations,” 7/12/16
- “Return of 60% of
the displaced people of Ramadi..and security postpones the return of people to
Garma,” 7/13/16
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