The residents of entire camps in Baghdad and a number of other provinces controlled by the federal government have been instructed to return to their areas of origin after being forced out under orders from authorities in recent weeks, says the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Residents of some of the camps the non-governmental-organization oversees have been given a matter of days to vacate the premises.
There has been “no overall plan or vision” communicated to camp residents, humanitarian organizations, or authorities in the returnees’ communities of origin, claimed Marine Olivesi, a media coordinator for the organization. “It is all happening in a rushed way without coordination.”
This has led many to take shelter in unsafe living conditions, including unfinished buildings without proper facilities, says the NRC. According to data from International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly half of those forced out of camps in the provinces of Baghdad and Karbala in recent weeks have not been able to return to their places of origin.
The Islamic State group (ISIS) seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, forcing millions of people to flee. Many of the displaced fled to the relative safety of the Kurdistan Region, but others remained in federal Iraq.
For many displaced Iraqis, it is not just “a matter of where to sleep, but how they can reach their house,” Olivesi told Rudaw English on Monday, noting that scores of displaced people come from areas where they could be potentially be blocked from passing or arrested at checkpoints due to a lack of security clearance or a belief they are part of armed groups.
While returning families have been promised a grant of $1,250 from Iraq's Ministry of Migration and Displaced People to help them resettle back into their communities, a limited number of returnees are reported to have received the compensation.
“The Iraqi government has stated on several occasions that they would support citizens’ return through return grants, however it seems so far that those have reached only a small minority of people,” reported Olivesi.
According to a survey of those forced to leave camps in 2019 by NRC and other humanitarian organizations, 85% of respondents say they never received any government financial assistance.
“Anyone who wants to return is supposed to receive 1 million and 500 thousand [Iraqi] dinars, but from what I’ve heard of people and the refugees only a small number of people have benefited from this,” Mevan Siddiq, director of Hassan al-Sham camps, told Rudaw on Monday.
“If they know people from inside the Ministry of Migration and Displaced People they will dispense it for them,” he claimed, adding that those considered to have “security issues” are not even registered to receive the financial assistance.
At the height of ISIS violence, some six million Iraqis were displaced across the country. Displacement was particularly pronounced in the north and west of the country – including the provinces of Anbar, Kirkuk and Salahaddin. While the majority of Iraq’s IDPs have returned home, an estimated 1.3 million remain displaced, often in camps.
Many are reluctant to return home because of continuing violence in their home areas, a lack of reconstruction following the destruction of their homes, and little in the way of basic services. Some who voluntarily left the camps to salvage their homes and livelihoods have been forced to return to the camps, unable to piece together the basics.
Rushed camp closures so far are mostly a concern in areas controlled by the federal government, impacting around 100,000 people.
“No plans have been officially announced by [the Kurdistan Regional Government] KRG at this point,” Olivesi added, an observation confirmed by the Hassan al-Sham manager, whose camp falls under the control of the KRG.
"We haven't received the official documents for the closure of camps, but the camps in southern Iraq have," said Siddiq, offering to help those forced again into displacement.
“Hassan al-Sham can shelter around [another] 1000 families. We are not encouraging people to enter these camps, but our doors are open to whoever is in need and we will welcome them,” he said.
A report by Human Rights Watch in 2019 documented a series of forced returns, highlighting both state force misconduct and civilian violence. Allegations against security forces include lying to IDPs about where they are being taken, and the forced return of IDPs to areas where ISIS activity is known to be rife.
With reporting by Khazan Jangiz
