Iraq CRISIS Situation Report No. 43 (6 – 12 May 2015)

This report is produced by OCHA in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It covers the period from 6 – 12 May. Due to the rapidly changing situation it is possible that the numbers and locations listed in this report may no longer be accurate. The next report will be issued on or around 22 May.

Highlights

• Clashes around the Baiji refinery causes minor displacement

• Eviction of IDPs from Kerbala hotels deferred for another two months

• Shikhan Camp in Ninewa opens and fills quickly with IDPs from informal settlements and other critical shelter situations

• Mr. Chaloka Beyani, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs visits Iraq

Map Source(s): IOM DTM 25 April 2015, Clusters, CODs. The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Map created on 16 May 2015. Situation Overview Throughout the reporting period, fighting was ongoing in al-Baghdadi, Falluja and Ramadi districts in Anbar Governorate. Clashes also continued in Baiji District, Salah al-Din Governorate, including around the Baiji oil refinery. Iraqi security forces reportedly regained control of the highway between Haditha and Baiji.

Local sources reported that 200 families crossed into al-Alam Sub district, Salah al-Din Governorate from Baiji District. These families have been displaced due to the ongoing military operations near Baiji. Local authorities reported that these families are in urgent need of food and non-food items. Dhuluiya Town in Salah al-Din reportedly received 120 IDP families bringing the total to 1,900. The Mayor expressed an urgent need for safe water, hygiene items, NFIs, and WASH services. There are reports that some IDP families have been prevented from returning to Tikrit and Daur districts, also in Salah al-Din Governorate. As of 11 May the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Centre (JCMC) reported that approximately 7,400 IDP families have returned to Anbar Governorate. Some returnee families who were interviewed by protection partners, expressed that they felt unsafe in Anbar as a consequence of the prevailing security situation and a perceived lack in available services, food, and potable water. According to Ninewa’s Rabeea Council’s registration records, the total number of IDP returnees reached 1,700 families, 90 per cent of whom are originally from Rabeea.

+ For more information, see “background on the crisis” at the end of the report

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On 11 May, after the intervention of the Office of the Prime Minister and multiple advocacy efforts by the humanitarian community, the deadline for 1,100 families in Kerbala to leave hotels paid for by the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) was postponed for two months to allow camp construction to be completed in Kerbala Governorate.

In Dahuk, as of 10 May, referrals from informal settlements and critical non-camp shelter sites continued to accelerate in the newly opened Shikhan Camp, Ninewa Governorate. The camp was reported to be almost completely full. According to the Board for Relief and Humanitarian Assistance the site hosted over 890 families, or approximately 5,100 people. The new arrivals included over 250 families from the Dabin informal settlement in Zakho who have a particularly difficult shelter situation, and have been under pressure from landlords to relocate.

With the approach of summer, IDPs in Iraq are in need of summer kits to reduce impact of extreme heat. The Shelter/NFI Sub-National Cluster is following up on standardizing summer packages. WASH services will also need to be scaled up during the summer months.

During the reporting period, Mr. Chaloka Beyani, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs visited Iraq and met with Government, UN and partner staff. The mission also included field visits to IDP camps.

International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) verified over 2.8 million displaced people across the country (January 2014 to 25 April 2015). Thirty six per cent of these IDPs did not move out of their governorate of origin, mainly in central and southern governorates. The DTM team also reported that Ramadi displacement figures have stabilized and that limited returns have been verified.

Baghdad’s Governing Council announced that additional roadblocks would be put in place from 10 May to provide increased security for Shi’a pilgrims seeking to access Kadhimiya, north of . Tightened security measures limit staff movement, humanitarian operations and assessments during the period of pilgrimage.

Food Security Needs: • Food security remains a critical concern in al Baghdadi Sub-district, Heet and Haditha Districts in Anbar Governorate. • Priority food supply needs for new and existing IDPs, as well as returnees, persist in Anbar, Salah al-Din, Kirkuk, Diyala, Ninewa and Baghdad governorates. • In the southern governorates, food supply needs remain for IDPs in Qadissiya, Najaf, Kerbala, Thi-Qar and Missan governorates. • In the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KR-I), food assistance needs continue in Dahuk and Erbil governorates.

Response: • Immediate Response Rations (IRR) were distributed to families as follows (approximate figures): 17,700 in Anbar Governorate 11,670 in Baghdad Governorate, 1,360 in Babylon Governorate, 430 in Diyala Governorate, 150 in Kerbala Governorate, 30 in Sulaymaniyah Governorate and 340 in Wassit Governorate. In total over 31,700 IRRs were distributed to approximately 30,000 families. • On 6 May, the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) consortium, distributed 500 RRM kits including drinking water, hygiene kits, buckets and IRRs to over 370 families at the Bzbiz Bridge Camp. On 7 May, 500 IDP families were assisted with RRM kits in Falluja district. In addition, approximately 420 families in Baghdad were assisted through the RRM Consortium. The RRM consortium continued distributions of RRM kits in Quarato IDP Camp for over 80 newly arrived IDP Families. • A workshop is being held in Dahuk on livelihoods for early recovery and stabilisation, based on the results of a two-week assessment on market value chains and livelihoods at household level. • Quality improvement measures are ongoing in Dahuk, in order to tackle data duplication and improve partners’ capacity to deliver food assistance to displaced communities.

Gaps and Constraints: • Many IDPs’ names are not listed in the Public Distribution System (PDS) electronic list, and as a consequence, are unable to receive their food packages in Muthanna Governorate.

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Shelter and Non-Food Items Needs: • Across Iraq 65 per cent of IDP families are living in private settings (host families, hotels and rented accommodation), 23 per cent are living in critical shelter arrangements (mainly in unfinished and abandoned buildings), 8 per cent are living in camps, and 4 per cent are living in formal settlements and unknown shelter types.

Response: • Ramadi response update: o Baghdad Governorate: Over 190 IDP households received NFI assistance, while tent upgrade activities are ongoing for another 200 IDP households. o To date, cluster partners have distributed more than 7,470 NFI kits and 3,100 tents. • Regular activity: o In Babylon Governorate, 200 IDP households received NFI assistance while an additional 200 households have been identified to benefit from future assistance. o In Salah al-Din Governorate, 250 IDP households were reached with NFI assistance. o In Ninewa Governorate, partners are planning to distribute core relief items (CRI) to 150 vulnerable returnee families in Rabeea. Other actors have distributed blankets and food items to all returnee families there.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Needs:

• Anbar Governorate: Over 90 IDP families reported to be newly settled in Amiriyat Al Falluja, Falluja district, are in urgent need of latrines, showers and water tanks. Increased water trucking is also needed. • Najaf Governorate: IDP families along the Najaf-Kerbala road require safe water, tanks, showers, latrines hygiene items and waste collection. There have been reports of scabies due to poor hygiene conditions. • Babylon Governorate: 1,260 IDP families from Ramadi settled in informal settlements in Babylon urgently require water kits and hygiene supplies. • Baghdad Governorate: Around 200 families in tented camps 3-4 km from Bzbiz Bridge (between Baghdad and Anbar) require latrines, showers, water tanks, and hygiene items. 400 tents currently being installed in the “New Scout Camp” require WASH facilities. • Salah al-Din Governorate: Over 60 IDP families are living in unfinished buildings around the MoDM camp. 1,400 families in Dhuluiya Sub-district, Balad District and thousands of returnees in Tikrit and Daur districts urgently require emergency WASH supplies.

Response:

• Anbar Governorate: Water trucking and desludging activities are ongoing in Falluja and Rutba districts. • Baghdad Governorate: In collective centers and camps family water kits, hygiene materials and garbage collection items have been distributed. • Salah al-Din Governorate: IDPs and returnees in Daur, and Balad districts received family water kits, cleaning materials and water tanks. Hygiene promotion sessions were also conducted. • Qadissiya Governorate: Hygiene promotion sessions were conducted. • Sulaymaniyah Governorate: Safe water is being provided in Arbat Camp for 2,700 families and Al Yawa Camp for 1,370 families. In Al Wand 2 Camp (still unoccupied), installation of WASH facilities was completed. Plans are underway to install additional toilets, showers and upgrades to the water system. In Quarato Camp, work is underway on water storage and the distribution network. In Tazar De Camp, support is being provided for the temporary water treatment system. • The NGO Coordination Committee for Iraq (NCCI) is planning a capacity building initiative for 10 local NGOs from Anbar and Baghdad, to support WASH needs assessments and hygiene promotion activities in IDP camps and host communities.

Gaps and Constraints:

• Dynamic movement of IDP families, lack of information on numbers and lack of access (due to security restrictions) continue to challenge the delivery of critically needed life-saving WASH support.

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• There remains a continued critical need to increase capacity and funding to cover emergency WASH needs for people fleeing Ramadi, and to sustain the ongoing IDP response across the country, which remains severely constrained by shortages in funding. Many essential, ongoing operations face closure.

Protection

Needs: • Movement and access restrictions: o In Anbar Governorate, airstrikes and shelling continues on ISIL locations in Falluja and Heet where ISIL have increased the number of checkpoints, preventing families from fleeing. ISIL is allegedly occupying several floors of Falluja Hospital and medical staff have evacuated. o A similar situation exists in areas around Mosul, where ISIL reportedly closed the main road with concrete blocks to prevent people from leaving the city. o An official decision issued on 5 May by the Babylon Provincial Council, stated that no more IDPs will be allowed to enter the governorate due to a lack of resources to host them. In Kirkuk, Maktab Khalid and the Kirkuk-Baghdad checkpoints remain closed for IDPs - despite being the main route for families fleeing fighting in various governorates including Salah al-Din, Ninewa and Anbar. The checkpoints into southern Sulaymaniyah Governorate also remain closed. o 450 IDPs in Kalar relocated to Quarato Camp. Humanitarian actors continue to stress that families have the right to make an informed and voluntary decision about relocation to the camp.

Response: • Advocacy meetings to delay the eviction of over 1,100 IDP families from hotels were held with Kerbala Provincial Council members, the Kerbala Governor’s Office, the MoDM and the Ministry of Human Rights. • Protection actors are closely following the MoDM’s plans to start issuing SMART cards for the distribution of regular financial assistance to IDPs. • The information management system regarding gender-based violence (GBV IMS) continues to be rolled out. Partners completed self-evaluations in Erbil, Dahuk, Sulaymaniyah and center/south governorates. An analysis is being carried out to determine how the GBV IMS can work with information systems already used by the Department for Combatting Violence Against Women. • Child protection partners in Sulaymaniyah Governorate are working with children to alleviate the tensions among different communities living at Arbat Camp.

Gaps and Constraints: • Restriction of movement and access to safety remains a challenge. • Forcible or coerced recruitment to join militia forces is increasing as displaced men are pressured to join Civil Defense Groups. • In camps visited by partners in Baghdad, over 60 per cent of IDPs are boys and girls. There are no spaces for children’s recreational activities integrated in the layout of the camps, which constrains the work of child protection actors in the provision of psychosocial services. • In Khadra Camp, as a result of very limited trust between IDPs and security forces, parents are not registering their children in nearby elementary schools.

Health

Needs: • 2,750 families are currently hosted in Al Habbaniah in Anbar Governorate with significant health concerns, due to the lack of safe drinking water. There are no reproductive health services in the area. • Leishmaniasis cases, a disease caused by parasites, were reported in many of the governorates across Iraq. • Suspected measles and acute diarrheal cases were also reported and samples were sent to central labs for confirmation. • Across 5 of the central governorates, reports indicate that 14 major hospitals are non-functional or destroyed. 160 major and minor primary healthcare centres are non-functional.

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Response: • Early detection and investigation of disease alerts and timely response to outbreaks is ongoing in 68 sites Iraq-wide. • Provision of a basic package of primary healthcare interventions, including those to address non- communicable diseases and mental health. Over 17,600 consultations were conducted over the week: 580 children were screened for nutrition status; and over 1,150 patients received treatment or were hospitalized. • The cluster worked on strengthening and sustaining disease surveillance in camps.

Gaps and Constraints: • Gaps in funding are forcing many active health partners in Syrian refugee camps to withdraw support. • Health service facilities in Anbar Governorate are in urgent need of medical supplies. The WHO is working on providing these. • Movement restrictions, due to security concerns, have affected the capacity of partners to reach the populations in need. As a consequence a health needs assessment, planned for parts of Anbar and Baghdad governorates, was put on hold. • Medical service provision, and healthcare in general is in jeopardy due to attrition in the health workforce. In some governorates, it is estimated that more than 50 per cent of healthcare providers are no longer in post.

Camp Coordination and Camp Management Needs: • Yahyawa Camp in Kirkuk, that hosts over 2,600 individuals, remains in need of food, water and WASH services. • In Dahuk Governorate the Gawilan transit refugee camp is expected to be full within a month. More refugees have asked to relocate to camps, putting pressure on the number of available slots.

Response: • Feedback received from Kirkuk CCCM training participants including IDPs, NGOs and government employees, indicate a positive impact on activities in Laylan and Yahyawa camps. Participants expressed appreciation towards the training that assisted them to address gaps in coordination of their work. • The CCCM and Shelter/NFI clusters will follow up on Kirkuk needs at the national and subnational levels. Both Kirkuk authorities and agencies expressed the need to increase assistance provided to IDPs in Kirkuk. A cluster member discussed with Kirkuk authorities plans to conduct a needs assessment and mapping exercise in Kirkuk. • Establishment of a CCCM and Shelter/NFI working group by relevant national and sub-national coordinators is ongoing to ensure accountability on the related scope of activities in Kirkuk. • Kirkuk authorities are implementing Badawa settlement shelter rehabilitation. Some 150 families with shelter needs have been accommodated in Badawa and IDPs in need of shelter continue to move into the Badawa settlement.

Education Needs: • Of the estimated 2.85 million IDP children across Iraq, over 850,000 are of school age (6 -17 years old). A further 190,000 are pre-primary children (4 - 5 years old). Current estimates indicate that just over 35 per cent of these children are attending formal education. • Over 1.2 million host community children have been affected by the crisis across Iraq putting additional strain on an already overburdened education system. This is compounded by a lack of adequate resources, distance to school, language barriers and insecurity. • Out-of-school children and adolescents are more likely to engage in risky and negative behaviours such as child labour, or to support or join armed groups. Further, girls are more likely to marry early.

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Response: • Over 296,000 host community children are benefitting from the repair and rehabilitation of 500 schools damaged due to hosting IDPs or through conflict. Rehabilitation work has been ongoing in over 160 schools in Anbar, Diyala and Missan governorates. • A five-day training workshop was conducted for 180 teachers working with IDP students on psychosocial support, pedagogy and school governance in Baghdad Governorate. • 157,000 children have accessed temporary learning spaces through the provision of over 1,200 tented classrooms across Iraq. The classrooms are providing much needed additional learning spaces for non- formal education activities including catch-up classes to prepare IDP children for end of year exams. • 49,000 children are receiving psychosocial support through recreational and support activities in both camp and non-camp settings.

Gaps and Constraints: • Resources including education materials are urgently needed to increase education opportunities, especially for the boys and girls who are on the verge of dropping out and for those already out of school. • Lack of learning spaces and distance to schools remain barriers to IDP children seeking access to education opportunities. Existing schools are already operating in double and triple shifts, and are overstretched.

Emergency Telecommunications Cluster

Response: • The faulty WIDER wireless connectivity in Arbat Camp that was sent for repair is now working smoothly and all services have been restored in the camp. ETC continues to provide internet connectivity to the humanitarian community. • A mission to Sarah Mountain, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, was conducted to prepare site for summer operations.

Logistics Response: • The coordinated RRM response for al-Baghdadi and Haditha is on hold awaiting security clearance due to insecurity and heavy fighting in the area. • The logistics cluster is addressing the need for regular and updated logistical information on road conditions, bottlenecks etc. • The logistics cluster will liaise closely with partners to enhance information sharing, partner’s logistics assets sharing, and common service provision. • The logistics cluster is coordinating with the Humanitarian Operation Centre to provide logistics information.

Gaps and Constraints: • Information sharing still needs to be improved with regard to partners’ asset sharing.

For further information, please contact: Antonio Massella, Officer-in-Charge, [email protected], Mobile Iraq: +964 (0) 751 184 4379 David Swanson, Public Information Officer, [email protected] Mobile Iraq: +964 (0) 750 377 0849 For more information, please visit https://iraq.humanitarianresponse.info

Background on the crisis Since the fall of Mosul on 9 June 2014, armed groups (AGs), including Ba’athists, tribal militias and members of the former regime/military, along with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), have taken control of large swathes of Iraq’s provinces of Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Diyala. The cities of Mosul, Tikrit, Telafar, Beiji, Quayyara, Suleiman Bek, Heet, Rashad, Hawiga, Riyadh, Falluja and Saqlawiyah, are currently under armed group control. Since January 2014 much of Anbar has been under ISIL control. This has led to massive internal displacement. Iraq is now contending with one of the largest internally displaced populations in the world; over 2.8 million have been displaced since January United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 2014. Coordination Saves Lives | www.unocha.org