The Iraqi Human Rights Observatory said that thousands of people have not been able to return to their homes in the Baiji district of eastern Salahaddin. It cited four main reasons: over 20,000 homes are destroyed or damaged, there is a lack of work, there is apprehension about the security situation, and Hashd forces are refusing to let people back. This area is symbolic of many other parts of central Iraq that are suffering from the aftermath of the war with the Islamic State.
There were two waves of
displacement from Baiji. The first was when IS took over most of the
district in 2014 and then when the government liberated it from 2014-15.
Afterward Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq were blamed for destroying
property and looting. Al Mada for example reported
in November 2014 that Hashd units were burning and blowing up homes, and
attacking civilians. The United
Nations received stories that the Hashd destroyed buildings, a mosque and a
market in Baiji in 2015. Local officials interviewed by researchers from the
Global Public Policy Institute said that 80% of the infrastructure was damaged
or destroyed, some of which happened after Baiji was freed. Asaib Ahl Al-Haq,
Badr, Kataib Hezbollah, and Kataib Imam Ali for example stole
equipment from the Baiji refinery and sold it off.
Some even had the audacity to offer some of the equipment back to the Oil Ministry. The
Hashd also detained and abused people fleeing the area and then stopped IDPs
from returning. As a result, by March 2018 only around 25% of the population
was back.
Similar events have taken place in other parts of the
country. Jurf
al-Sakhr in Babil was completely emptied of people when it was cleared of
IS, and the government has refused to allow anyone back since then. The
Peshmerga destroyed villages in southern Kirkuk, while tribal Hashd blew
up hundreds of homes in Salahaddin. Damaged property and fear of
retaliation by security forces and others has been cited in surveys of IDPs as
reasons for not returning. Areas with the heaviest property damage also deters people
from going back. Since rebuilding is mostly being left to provincial
authorities, the U.N. and NGOs and Baghdad only has nominal control of Hashd
groups problems like those in Baiji and other areas are likely to persist into
the foreseeable future. The Iraqi government won the war with the Islamic
State, but it is finding it hard to deal with the peace.
SOURCES
Al Alam, “Iraq …
thousands of families unable to return to Baiji,” 2/17/19
Amnesty International, “Iraq: Turning A Blind Eye, The
Arming Of The Popular Mobilization Units,” 1/5/17
Gaston, Erica Schulz, Mario, “At the Tip of the Spear: Armed Groups’
Impact on Displacement and Return in Post-ISIL Iraq,” Global Public Policy
Institute, 2/18/19
Human Rights Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights UNAMI United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq - Human Rights Office, "Report on the
Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 May - 31 October
2015," January 2016
Human Rights Watch,
“Iraq: Displacement, Detention of Suspected “ISIS Families,”” 3/5/17
Al Mada,
“Controversy over popular brigades following daily complaints by locals,”
11/26/14
Tasrebat, “Oil Minister: Those who stole equipment from
Baiji refinery contacted the ministry to sell it again,” 1/21/19
Xinhua, “Iraq restores part of largest oil refinery after
4-year hiatus,” 8/27/18
Zaki, Mahmoud,
Osgood, Patrick, Van Heuvelen, Ben, Lando, Ben, “Once fixable, Baiji refinery
plundered beyond repair,” Iraq Oil Report, 1/28/16
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