BABYLON IOM Displacement Assessments GOVERNORATE PROFILE JULY 2009
IOM IDP AND RETURNEE ASSESSMENT Iraq has a long history of displacement, JULY 2009 culminating most recently in the February 2006 bombing of the Samarra Al-Askari BABYLON: DISPLACEMENT AT A GLANCE Mosque. Due primarily to sectarian violence, 1.6 million people were internally
1 displaced, chiefly in 2006 and 2007, Total post-Feb 2006 IDPs 12,677 families (est. 77,197 individuals) 2 2 according to government figures. Total pre-Feb 2006 IDPs 1,475 families (est. 8,850 individuals)
Number of post-Feb 2006 IDPs 10,601 families (est. 63,606 individuals) assessed by IOM3 IOM field monitoring teams assess the Returnees identified by IOM4 125 families (est. 750 individuals) varying needs and challenges of IDP and Capital Hilla returnee communities across the eighteen Iraqi governorates. These comprehensive Districts Hashimiya, Hilla, Al-Mahawil, Al-Musayab assessments of internally displaced persons Population5 1,651,565 individuals (IDPs) and returnees are conducted through Rapid Assessment questionnaires in conjunction with Iraqi authorities and other national and international actors. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Babylon are primarily Shia Arab families who fled sectarian violence in Baghdad during the post-Samarra IOM seeks to ascertain and disseminate violence of 2006 and early 2007. Almost 14% of IDP households are female- detailed information about IDP and headed, and only 41% would like to return. Families are increasingly returnee needs and conditions in each interested in remaining in Babylon permanently among extended family governorate. A greater understanding of networks or finding an alternative place to settle. displacement and return in Iraq is intended to facilitate policy making, prioritizing areas However, sustainable shelter – out of group settlements and away from of operation, and planning emergency and unaffordable rents – is hard to find. Shelter solutions and jobs are increasing long-term responses.
in importance, particularly for those who wish to stay. To date, IOM has assessed 223,898 IDP families and identified 55,007 returnee Quick Facts on Babylon IDPs & Returnees families. Of these returnee families, 3,679 have participated in IOM in-depth needs ¾ Nearly 95% of IDPs assessment interviews. Unless otherwise in Babylon are Shia stated, all data in the profile is based on Arab. 73% of these IOM-assessed populations. IDPs identify being targeted and displaced because of IOM’s Recommendations for their religion. Projects in Babylon
¾ The majority of Babylon Distribute water purification tablets IDPs (81%) were displaced to 35 IDP families and 300 host from Baghdad. community families in Hilla’s Al- Tajia Village ¾ 12% of Babylon IDPs are living in informal group settlements or public buildings
1 As per the Ministry of Displacement and Migration. 2 As per IOM Phase II Monitoring, December 2005. 3 Please note that this is the number of post-February 2006 IDPs assessed by IOM, not the total number of IDPs in the governorate. 4 As per IOM Returnee Assessments, November 2008. IOM Iraq’s Joint Operations Cell maintains a 5 As per the Iraq Living Conditions Survey, UNDP and Ministry of Planning and Development database of project recommendations such Cooperation, 2004. as this one, submitted by IOM field monitors and others working in Iraq. Email:
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BABYLON’S DISPLACED PERSONS: WHO ARE Number of IDPs in Babylon by District THEY? District Number Percentage of Families According to the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration, there Total 10554 100% are currently 12,677 IDP families displaced in Babylon. IOM Hilla 4098 38.8% monitors have assessed 10,554 families. The vast majority of Al-Mahawil 3290 31.2% Babylon IDPs are Shia Arab families who fled sectarian violence in Hashimiya 1883 17.8% Baghdad. Baghdad’s close proximity to Babylon has made the Al-Musayab 1283 12.2% governorate host to a large number of IDP families from Baghdad, and events in Baghdad continue to cause instability in the north of Babylon. There are also a few Babylon IDP families who fled armed IDP Governorate of Origin conflict and general violence from within Babylon. Baghdad 81% Babylon 7% Over 3,000 of the IDP families assessed by IOM in Babylon arrived Diyala 6% in July 2006, one-third of them coming from Baghdad. The rest Anbar 2% arrived throughout 2006. Salah al-Din 2% Wassit 1% The presence of small groups of pre-2006 IDPs present in Babylon Kirkuk 1% stems from the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s, and the 1991 Gulf War. Families fled to Babylon from areas such as Basrah, Missan, Religion and Ethnicity in Babylon Thi-Qar and Qadissiya. The integration of these people into their District Shia Sunni Other Muslim Muslim host communities has been slow but continuous. IDPs who arrived Babylon Total 95.0% 4.8% 0.2% in Babylon between 2003 and 2006 mainly fled from the Dora and Al-Mahawil 89.5% 10.5% 0.0% Abu Ghraib districts of Baghdad. Al-Musayab 86.4% 12.8% 0.8%
IDP & Returnee Locations in Babylon. See final page for detail Hashimiya 99.6% 0.0% 0.4% Hilla 99.9% 0.0% 0.1%
Reasons for Being Targeted Babylon All Iraq Belonging to a certain religion or 72.6% 84.8% sect Do not think the group was targeted 18.0% 10.9% Holding a certain political opinion 2.8% 5.1% Belonging to a certain ethnic group 2.3% 4.8% Belonging to a certain social group 0.9% 1.3%
Monthly Displacement to Babylon Since 2006
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Nu 0 2006 2006 2007 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 < 2/ 4/ 6/ 8/ 2/ 4/ 6/ 8/ 4/ 10/ 12/ 10/ Date of Displacement 2
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BABYLON: IDP DEMOGRAPHICS
Due to the nature of the sectarian violence in Iraq and conditions of displacement, a significant number of IDP households in Percentage of Female-Headed Households (by Babylon are headed by women. This reaches 17% of IDP district) families in Hashimiya district. Female-headed households are District Percentage among the most vulnerable IDP families, as they often have no Total 13.6% steady income and cannot advocate for themselves with regard to Al-Mahawil 11.4% social and bureaucratic issues. Al-Musayab 7.1% Hashimiya 17.0% Widows of Al Thawra area in Hilla district keep their young Hilla 15.9% children out of school to collect cans and plastic bottles as the family’s only source of income.
IDPs by Age and Gender Out of those assessed, 53% of IDPs are under the age of 18. The Female Male Total challenges for this disproportionately young IDP population are to provide adequate educational outlets as well as providing food, Under 1 year 492 611 1103 shelter, and economic support. Children of poor IDP families 1 to 4 years old 1000 970 1970 are kept out of school, and those who go face overcrowding. In 5-17 years old 1836 1912 3748 Al Essa village of Hashimiya district, a school meant to serve 400 18-60' 2425 2327 4752 children now serves 750. They are running three shifts. Over 60 692 543 1235
The majority (58%) of IDPs in Babylon do not wish to return to their places of origin, but rather they would like to locally integrate or resettle in a third location. Many came to Babylon because of existing familial or tribal networks in the governorate and would like to stay. However, they are in need of job opportunities. An initial IOM update of nationwide IDP intentions shows an increasing interest in staying permanently in the place of displacement.
41% of IDPs in Babylon would like to return home once security and other obstacles allow them to do so. Indeed some families have already begun to return. The majority of families who say they would like to return fled Baghdad after the 2006 Samarra Mosque bombing.
Of those that intend to return, to Babylon IDP Settlement Intentions which governorate would you District Locally Resettle in a Return to their Waiting on one or return? integrate in the third place of origin several factors to Baghdad 82.8% current location location make a decision Diyala 6.4% Total 31.10% 26.80% 41.30% 0.60% Babylon Babylon 6.1% Al-Mahawil 23.10% 9.80% 67.10% 0.0% Anbar 1.9% Al-Musayab 24.20% 18.60% 56% 0.50% Krikuk 1.3% Hashimiya 27.90% 51.10% 18.70% 1.90% Wassit 1.0% Hilla 41% 31.80% 26.50% 0.50% Salah Al-Din 0.5%
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BABYLON’S DISPLACED PERSONS: LIVING CONDITIONS AND PRIORITY NEEDS Employment Babylon All Iraq At least one member of the family 17.0% 32.8 % has a job IDP families in Babylon are primarily concerned with finding None of the members has a job 83.0% 67.2 % employment opportunities, as the lack of income makes it difficult to sustain displacement or to integrate, depending on PDS ACCESS Babylon All Iraq their intentions. The majority (70%) are living in rented Not at all 41.4% 46.2% homes, meaning that a large portion of their resources goes to Sometimes 19.8% 33.6% rent each month, leaving health and education concerns Yes, always 38.8% 20.1% behind. ELECTRICITY Babylon All Iraq In addition, 12% of IDP families in Babylon assessed by IOM No Electricity 2.7% 4.8% are living in collective settlements or public buildings. The 1-3 hours per day 52.0% 31.2% characteristics of these group settlements make the people who Four or more hours per day 45.1% 63.2% resort to them particularly vulnerable. They are often on WATER SOURCE Babylon All Iraq privately- or government-owned land, with eviction a looming Municipal water (underground 92.5% 88.8% possibility. There is little access to basic services such as water pipes) and electricity networks, and health clinics are often distant or Water tanks / trucks 34.9% 26.1% inaccessible. Public Wells 10.0% 12.1% Rivers, streams or lakes 22.5% 12.5% While many IDP and host community families have access to Open / broken pipe 27.2% 3.4% municipal water networks, low regularity of electricity means Other Sources 19.5% 11.3% that this water only comes for short periods each day, a difficulty that is particularly felt during the summer heat. Initial findings of a nationwide update of priority needs indicates increasing emphasis on the need for shelter and employment. Water is a high concern, particularly in Al Musayab district.
Type of Housing
District Tent in Collective Town Former Military Tent near house Public Host Rented Other Camp Settlement Camp of host building house house Total 0% 6% 1% 1% 6% 10% 70% 7% Al-Mahawil 1% 2% 3% 1% 3% 15% 66% 10% Al-Musayab 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 10% 88% 2% Hashimiya 0% 20% 0% 5% 14% 4% 49% 9% Hilla 0% 4% 0% 0% 6% 8% 76% 4%
ed e Priority Needs of Babylon IDPs
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BABYLON’S RETURNEES Returnee Numbers in Babylon by District District Number of Percentage Current Returnees in Babylon Families Total Babylon 291 100% The portion of post-Samarra displacement originating from Babylon governorate is relatively small, and there is a similarly Al-Musayab 247 84.9% small group of returnee families in the governorate. IOM Al-Mahawil 39 13.4% monitors have identified 291 post-Samarra returnee families Hilla 5 1.7% and assessed 33 of them through in-depth interviews.
Families who return need assistance in order to make their returns sustainable, as many have depleted their finances while enduring the difficulties of forced displacement and violence. Some returnees, such as 35 families in Al Haweeja village and nine families in Al Farisia village of Al Musayab district need temporary shelter and assistance to rebuild their destroyed homes. Along with food and fuel, almost half of the assessed returnee families cited legal help as a priority need.
RETURN POTENTIAL TO BABYLON
The Future of IDPs who Fled Babylon IOM field monitors have assessed 2,317 families across Iraq IDPs Originally from Babylon are located in: who fled Babylon during post-Samarra violence. Of these Governorate Families Percentage families, the largest groups are located in Babylon itself, Thi Babylon Total 2317 100% Qar, and Kerbala governorates. Babylon 750 32.4% Thi-Qar 424 18.3% In assessing the future intentions of IDPs from Babylon, Kerbala 367 15.8% IOM monitors have found that those in Babylon and Thi Wassit 113 4.9% Qar would mostly like to integrate into their places of Basrah 99 4.3% displacement, while those in Kerbala would like to return. Salah al-Din 95 4.1% What are the Intentions of those displaced FROM Babylon? Muthanna 80 3.5% Displaced in Locally Resettle in a Return to Waiting Baghdad 76 3.3% integrate in third their place on one or Qadissiya 74 3.2% the current location of origin several location factors to Najaf 61 2.6% make a Ninewa 56 2.4% decision Kirkuk 37 1.6% All IDPs 42.4% 18.1% 38.9% 0.6% Missan 25 1.1% from Babylon Sulaymaniyah 23 1.0% Anbar 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% Diyala 17 0.7% Babylon 49.5% 15.3% 35.2% 0.0% Erbil 11 0.5% Baghdad 69.7% 13.2% 17.1% 0.0% Anbar 9 0.4% Basrah 78.8% 17.2% 4.0% 0.0% Diyala 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% Erbil 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% Kerbala 10.4% 24.8% 64.9% 0.0% Missan 12.0% 44.0% 40.0% 4.0% Overall, 40% of Babylon-originated IDP Muthanna 43.8% 20.0% 22.5% 13.8% families would like to return, meaning that Najaf 18.0% 0.0% 82.0% 0.0% assisting successful and sustainable integration Ninewa 0.0% 30.4% 69.6% 0.0% into host communities is also a major concern Qadissiya 47.3% 31.1% 20.3% 1.4% for this population. In many cases, this is a Salah al-Din 2.1% 40.0% 57.9% 0.0% question of gaining livelihood opportunities in the family’s current location. Sulaymaniyah 21.7% 8.7% 69.6% 0.0%
Kirkuk 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0%
Thi-Qar 67.5% 7.8% 24.8% 0.0% 3
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ADRESSING IDP AND RETURNEE NEEDS
IOM Iraq’s Joint Operations Cell (JOC) works to mitigate emergency needs while looking at sustainable measures such as income-generating activities as part of the transition from relief to recovery.
March 2009 - Distribution of essential non-food items to various villages
IOM has directly implemented emergency distributions of essential items throughout Iraq. In the spring of 2009, Babylon’s distributions were focused in Al-Mahawil, Al-Musayab, and Al-Hashimiya districts. In these areas, vulnerable populations of IDPs, returnees, and others in the host community benefited from the distributions.
IOM Ongoing and Recently RECOMMENDED FUTURE PROJECTS IN BABYLON Completed Projects in Babylon
September 2008 – Supplying and Installing IOM’s Joint Operations Cell (JOC) maintains a database of project water pipes in Jasman neighborhood recommendations submitted by IOM field monitors and others working in Iraq. Along with the recommendation on the first page, the following are also applicable in Babylon: December 2008 – Health Skills Training of 50 Women ¾ Building a six-classroom extension and providing blackboards December 2008 – Rehabilitation of Al- and desks for a school in Tauisa Village Mahaweel Primary Health Center
January 2009 – Material and Planning support for Babylon’s Returnees ¾ Constructing and supplementing basic shelters for 30 IDP families in Al-Askari Village in Hashimiyah
February 2009 – Emergency Support to Hilla’s General Teaching Hospital ¾ Establishing proper solid waste disposal areas for residents of
Al-Thawra village in Hilla. Currently, a group of IDPs are forced March 2009 – Distribution of essential non- food items to various villages to live next to the disposal area, putting them at risk for disease.
¾ Providing pipelines for 24 IDP families in Al Mahaweel village, as the river where they normally retrieve their daily water has gone dry
Please note that displacement and return are occurring on a continuous basis, and IOM strives to update this information as frequently as possible. Through its monitoring and needs assessments, IOM has also developed periodic displacement updates, yearly and mid-year reviews, returnee needs assessments, and other reports. For these and information on the IOM’s needs assessment methodology, see http://www.iom-iraq.net/idp.html.
For further information on IDPs and returnees in Iraq, please contact Rex Alamban, Head of IOM Iraq Joint Operations Cell at [email protected] or Liana Paris, IOM Monitoring Officer, at [email protected] (+962 6 565 9660 extensions 1067 and 1033).
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