Iraqi Govt Wants To End Displacement In 6 Months

(Devex)

Iraq’s Displacement Minister Jabro recently repeated that the Sudani government wants to end the country’s displacement problem in six months. Like previous administrations there doesn’t appear to be any real plan behind this statement.

 

The minister noted that internal refugees (IDPs) are returning but in very small numbers. He said that the government needs to rebuild war torn areas, increase security and provide services and infrastructure to encourage more people to go back. He also stated that Baghdad is in talks with Kurdistan to close all the displaced camps there.

 

Nearly every Iraqi government has wanted to solve this issue but failed. For instance, Prime Minister Kazemi tried to shut down displacement camps and force people out whether they wanted to go or not. He was stymied by the fact that there are many families that can’t return because they are accused of being Islamic State sympathizers, Kurdistan refused to close its camps, and Baghdad cut the budget for the displaced. There is also no reconstruction plan for ex-conflict zones.

 

The result is that over one million people are still displaced in Iraq with little chance of going home just like what happened during the civil war period. The International Organization for Migration, the major aid group working with the government on IDPs found 1.1 million displaced in December 2022. Its figures show returns have gone from an average of 78,000 people per month in 2018 to just 3,700 per month at the end of last year. Again, the conditions are not right for most displaced to return. The same thing was true in 2009 when the civil war ended. The government had no real plan and the country’s demographics had changed with the cleansing of Sunnis from many areas by militias and Baghdad. That left over one million IDPs from that era.

 

Nearly every Iraqi administration believes it can end the displacement problem but they always fail. With no money and no real strategy people will not go back. The Sudani government is going to be the latest to learn this lesson.

 

SOURCES

 

Al Mada, “The Minister of Migration calls for support: We record a weak daily return of the displaced,” 3/22/23

 

Salem, Amr, “Iraq to end displacement in 6 months,” Iraqi News, 3/22/23