IRAQ AT A CROSSROADS

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The humanitarian disaster in Iraq: beyond the atrocities of Daesh
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The concentration of people according to religious denominations was not only
produced in the capital but also in the other Iraqi provinces. Despite the fact that the bulk
of the 2.77 million internal displacements, according to figures by UNHCR, occurred
in 2006 and 2007, returning home has not been feasible. Their displacement was not
the result of one-off circumstances, but rather calculated policies of transformation and
geographical regrouping by sectarian parameters in the population.
According to a report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), from February
2011, prior to the outbreak of the Iraqi Revolution the situation of displaced people
continued to be reflected in the Iraqi government’s lack of interest in providing a solution:
“Despite an improved security situation in Iraq and the development of a new government,
few Iraqis are able to go home. The situation of internally displaced Iraqis—particularly
those living in squalid informal settlements—remains an emergency that is yet to be
properly addressed by the Government of Iraq or the international community.”24 In the
meantime, the majority of those migrating to another country did not consider moving
back to Iraq and instead attempted to start a new life in the place they settled. IRC points
to the lack of security as the main reason for those that were displaced and migrated not
wanting to return home, as well as the bureaucratic hurdles within a framework where:
“The Government of Iraq has yet to meaningfully address the IDP problem: there is no
comprehensive or actionable government plan to do so”.
In January 2014 the Iraqi Revolution, previously non-violent, took up arms against the
Iraqi military, causing an indiscriminate military response by the Baghdad government,
which included bombing the civilian population, and caused a new wave of displacements,
the majority from Fallujah or Al Anbar towards Iraqi Kurdistan. When Daesh joined the
conflict in June 2014 and began to exert control over more territory, the situation of those
displaced worsened, registering between January 2014 and 26 February 2015 more than
two and a half million new internal displacements.25Fear of Daesh and the bombings of the
international coalition and Iraqi government heightened, as did the fear of the atrocities
committed by the infantry of the Iraqi army and the militias as they liberated cities such as
Amerli26 and Samarra from Daesh. Of the families displaced, 20% need critical medical
care, including psychological treatment for dealing with sexual violence-related traumas.
The outlook is not promising for these 2.5 million Iraqis since there are minimal resources
to deal with the situation and UNHCR has only raised 0.3% of the 405 million dollars
needed to cover the needs of this crisis.
The current situation of neglect for internally displaced Iraqi people and women and
children is, as we have seen, a result of the decades-old disregard for the human side of
the conflict, and this is not just since the emergence of Daesh. As Nickolay Mladenov,
Special Representative for Iraq, has requested: “Iraqi leaders need to move immediately
and implement the Government’s agenda of national unity and reconciliation in order
24 International Rescue Committee (IRC) (2011). Iraqi displacement: eight years later durable solutions still
out of reach.
25 2,536,734 IDP according to: Displacement Tracking Matrix, Round XV (2015). OIM, February 2015.
26 After Liberation Came Destruction: Iraqi Militias and the Aftermath of Amerli (2015). In: HRW [online].
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