FMR special issue

populations. However, as the scope On a regional level, the humanitarian between sister UN agencies in of the humanitarian crisis is beyond crisis has implications in terms these countries have begun. the current response capacity of of outflow, security and access the GoI, the UN will increase its to vulnerable groups. Therefore Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, current humanitarian activities to neighbouring countries and their a senior Pakistani diplomat and match the increasing needs where NGO communities should be engaged former ambassador to the USA, possible. To that end, the UN is and included in determinations of is the UN Secretary-General’s committed to working directly responses. Humanitarian corridors Special Representative for Iraq. with governorates, districts and between these countries need to community leaders, to ensure that be developed and preliminary The web portal for UN agencies interventions are tailored to the discussions regarding coordination working in Iraq is at www.uniraq.org

unique circumstances in each district. 1. www.irffi.org

Iraq bleeds: the remorseless rise of violence and displacement by Ashraf al-Khalidi and Victor Tanner

“I will never believe in differences between people,” the young rule of law. This was especially true man said. “I am a Sunni and my wife is a Shi’a. I received of Shi’a communities, which had suffered so much under Saddam. threats to divorce her or be killed. We have left Dora now [a once-mixed, now Sunni-dominated neighbourhood in central Even today, many ordinary people ]. My wife is staying with her family in Shaab [a Shi’a still do not think in terms of civil war. What they see is not neighbour area] and I am staying with my friends in Mansur [a Sunni against neighbour but armed thugs on area]. I am trying to find a different house but it’s difficult all sides brutalising civilians. People now to find a place that accepts both of us in Baghdad.” have tried to protect their friends and neighbours. Shi’a displaced from Mosul and Falluja, interviewed in This comment by a young Iraqi artist is a historical melting pot. Modern Diwaniya in June 2006, told of Sunni to a friend in Baghdad last summer Iraq reflects this. The three great families who had sought to protect captures the essence of the painful cities – Baghdad, and Mosul them, and who had in turn been paradox that grips Iraqi society nearly – have been cosmopolitan centres of targeted by Sunni radicals. Similar four years after the 2003 invasion commerce and learning for centuries. stories came from the other side: we triggered a colossal upheaval. On There may not be any official statistics heard, for example, from residents of the one hand, Iraq is a society where but there are large numbers of mixed the Hayy al-Jaamia area of Baghdad different ethnicities, cultures, religions marriages in Iraq – up to a third of about an incident in which a local and sects have mixed and mingled all marriages, according to a March Sunni grocer was killed by Shi’a for centuries, where people worked 2007 article in the Washington Post. thugs and when his Shi’a neighbour and lived side by side. On the other, it Indeed, many of the country’s tribes – protested, he, too, was murdered. is a country that is now increasingly including some of the most powerful riven by terrible sectarian violence ones – consist of both Sunni and Shi’a. But the situation is hardening. – violence that has forced millions of Violence is reaching deeper into Iraqis to flee their homes, either as True, the regime of society. More and more ordinary refugees to neighbouring countries, played on differences between Shi’a people have ties to the radical or as internally displaced within Iraq. and Sunnis, as well as between groups. In many neighbourhoods, and , aggravating the tensions it is a case of being either with that exist in any multicultural them or against them. And if the A history of living together society. But when in 2003 the horrors latter, the consequence is to flee or, of that regime were swept aside, often, to be killed. And once kin Living together is a natural part of many Iraqis yearned for a normal and loved ones join a radical group, life in Iraq. The Mesopotamian plain life: security, due process and the the whole family is entrapped. FMR IRAQ special issue 

This Iraqi woman fled her home town after a mortar attack killed several children. UNHCR/K Brooks

The hard-liners Sunni leaders in Iraq. “The Shi’a are are pawns they use to further their being killed since the death of the agendas – which are strikingly Since the bombing of the holy . In fact we can’t see any similar. They seek to consolidate Shi’a shrine in ’s Golden difference between the Umayyads3 ‘their’ territory by expelling the in February 2006, successive and Saddam or the current radical ‘others’. They try to keep some of waves of attack and retaliation Sunni leaders,” said a SCIRI official, ‘their’ people in the territory of the have washed over the country. The interviewed in . Similarly, ‘other’ so as to maintain a claim on the Samarra bombing marked the end a Sadrist official in the Baghdad local resources. In a context where the of the restraint with which Sh’ia neighbourhood of Shuala declared: central government is facing immense had faced escalating attacks against “The plan is clear to us. They want difficulties asserting its authority them. Now the violence is from both to eliminate the Shi’a in Baghdad across the country, the radical groups sides. The weapon of choice of Sunni and Diyala so they can establish their of all sides are able to pose as both militant groups is the car-bomb, Taliban state in the Sunni areas.” protectors and providers to the most while extremist Shi’a death squads vulnerable. The displaced are also detain, torture and murder people. For hard-line Sunnis, the very essence pawns in the internecine struggles of the situation is sectarian: they see between different groups within The violence is neither spontaneous the ‘new’ Iraq as a creation of US each of the two main communities. nor popular. Whether you ask and Iranian interests – a place where political actors or ordinary Iraqis in Sunnis no longer belong. “The plan As the power and influence of the the street, including those displaced for Southern Federalism allows the radical groups increase, so too does by the violence, the view is that Shi’a political coalition to control the their tendency to engage in repressive more extreme religious fronts drive oil in the south and leaves the Sunnis behaviour. In , residents both the violence and the resulting isolated and poor,” said an AMSI say they feel relief when the Mahdi displacement. These groups are the official in Mosul. For a Sunni Waqf Army4 engages in operations outside Office of Muqtada al-Sadr and the Committee official in Baghdad, the the area, because when they are not Supreme Council for the Islamic anti-Sunni attacks are “an organised busy elsewhere, they harass people Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)1 on the plan against the Sunni Arabs.” in their own area. In Washash, a Shi’a side, and the Association of “This has led us to question who is formerly mixed area now under Shi’a Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI)2 and really responsible for the Samarra control, Shi’a households must fly the Islamic Party on the Sunni side. bombing,” he added – a fine example a black flag to demonstrate fealty. of how, in times of extreme violence, Hard-line leaders on both sides view a blend of paranoia and bad faith Likewise, in Baghdad’s Sunni the violence and displacement as can replace rational discourse. neighbourhoods of Ghaziliya and an extension of existing historical al-Khadhra, the Brigades trends. Shi’a leaders point to a The violence gives the radical groups enforce strict Sharia law in a fashion history of anti-Shi’a repression by their raison d’être. The displaced reminiscent of the Taliban. Smoking  FMR IRAQ special issue

is prohibited. Women are forbidden themselves to the bigger groups like to be. Places such as north Babil, from wearing trousers and men from the Shi’a Mahdi Army or the Sunni Salah ad-Din , Mosul, Basra shaving. Penalties for transgressors Omar Brigades. This only fuels the and especially Baghdad have been are brutal – and sometimes final. problem further, as the radical groups exceptionally violent. In these areas, Recent news from the Dora gain in power at the local level. campaigns to undermine mixed neighbourhood neighbourhoods Iraqi refugees of Baghdad, proceed in in a restaurant in Amman. also controlled parallel. There by Sunni hard- tends to be less liners, has it violence in areas that Christians where there is a are sometimes functioning local forced to make authority – mainly monthly $100 the Kurdish North payments and the southern – a head-tax that Shi’a towns (other able-bodied non- than Basra). Muslim males historically paid The number in Muslim states. of displaced is hard to estimate. It is, on both The only official sides, typical numbers come warlord politics: from the Ministry moderates and of Trade, which people who speak manages the UNHCR/P Sands up in opposition country’s rations, to the violence are but they may targeted, intimidated and killed. The Adding to the grim picture, tribes underestimate the overall problem. only guarantee for survival is silence. on both sides – which were initially Many displaced people do not playing a stabilising counterpoint register for rations, and all numbers to the urban violence, especially in for internally displaced people in Moderation in decline rural areas – seem to be growing Iraq are manipulated, especially restless. If open conflict erupts those put out by the political parties. Another ominous and ugly between tribal groups, the violence The generally accepted figure for the development is that these views are will take on an organised, popular number of people displaced within bleeding into the general public. and rural dimension that has so Iraq in the year following the Samarra The inhuman nature of the violence far, mercifully, been lacking. bombing is over 700,000. And, by and its pervasiveness are causing March 2007, UNHCR was estimating intolerance and mistrust to spread, that up to two million Iraqi refugees especially among the youth. Displacement on the rise were living in neighbouring countries, especially and . The There are few voices of moderation Well before the 2003 invasion, violent pressure on neighbouring countries in Iraq today. One of the few national displacement was a major feature may increase as most governorates in leaders to have spoken out against of the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. southern Iraq have begun restricting the violence and specifically against Today’s radical groups continue in the entry of displaced people who do displacement is Grand Ayatollah Ali that vein: using the violent ejection of not belong to local tribes or do not al-Sistani. In July 2006, he condemned entire populations as a tool to assert have kin with whom they can live. “sectarian chaos” (fitna taaifiyya), the political power. The central pattern of “mutual violence” (onf mutaqaabil) and displacement is the consolidation of Sectarian violence is not the only “campaigns of forced displacement” territory by the radical armed groups. cause of displacement. Others include (hamlaat at-tahjiir al-qasri). But, to In essence, people flee to areas where general lawlessness, which is closely the despair of many moderate Shi’a they feel safer. Sunnis go to Sunni linked to the actions of the radical (and Iraqis in general), the influence areas. Shi’a go to Shi’a areas. Kurds groups, the lack of basic services, of moderates seems to be waning – and some Arabs – go to the northern delays in the resolution of property as that of radical Shi’a groups and and Christians go to parts disputes, and the fighting between younger, hard-line leaders grows. of Ninewah province. And most of insurgents and multi-national those who can leave the country do military operations that periodically In response to the violence, many so. The result: the radical groups hold displace thousands of civilians. local communities, on both sides, sway over ‘cleansed’ territories, and are setting up vigilante-like defence have steadily increased their power. There are different categories of committees to protect their areas. sectarian displaced. Sunni Arabs from But they do not have resources: Patterns of displacement vary. The majority Shi’a areas are the group weapons, generators, fuel and so on. more mixed a city is, the more that has grown most dramatically So, in order to function, they link sectarian violence there is likely since the Samarra bombing. Shi’a FMR IRAQ special issue  from majority Sunni areas have been committees in neighbourhoods and where you are willing to take under pressure since before the fall and local . International him; which friends you see… of the former regime. Many Sunni assistance has in recent times been and Shi’a Arabs whom the Ba’ath minimal, and also not very visible, There is a new job in Baghdad regime settled, often forcibly, in the because of the security situation. today. For a fee, certain people mainly Kurdish North as part of its will scour dumps and river banks aggressive Arabisation programme to find the body of your missing were forced to leave in 2003 and 2004. Dim prospects loved one. How long can people Minority groups forced to flee from live with such violence and not both Sunni and Shi’a areas include It is hard to grasp the impact of the be permanently scarred? Kurds, Christians, Turkmen, Sabean- sectarian violence. Neighbourhoods Mandeans, Roma and third-country that were once hard to tell apart are “I wish they would attack us with nationals, especially Palestinians. now separated by a no man’s land a nuclear bomb and kill us all, so The minorities are often prey to of deserted streets and shuttered we will rest…” an Iraqi said to a criminal gangs rather than sectarian buildings. Transporters must change New York Times reporter, after a ones, because they are viewed as lorries and drivers to ferry goods 3 February bomb in a Baghdad having little in the way of protection, from territory to territory. Roads market that killed over 130 people unlike the Sunni, Kurds and Shi’a. are closed to one group or another. and wounded more than 300 others, Worst of all, Iraq’s educated elites “We cannot live this way anymore. are fleeing the country – many have We are dying slowly every day.” How do people cope? given up hope and are seeking resettlement in third countries. Increasingly, displaced people see The majority of the displaced stay Though it seems unthinkable, many what happened to them as a reflection with family, friends or simply people people fear that the sectarian violence of deep-seated political divisions in from the same community. Others may get even worse. There are fears the country. The violence is causing squat in public buildings. There are that artillery could be used to target lasting change to Iraq’s social and far fewer displaced in camps than urban areas designated for ethnic demographic make-up. That is with host families. People in camps cleansing. The radical groups, while what the radical armed groups are the worst off because of poor becoming more violent, may also on both sides seek to achieve. shelter and sanitation conditions. For be fragmenting, making it even the most part, families seem to have harder to find a political solution. They are succeeding. stayed together but an important social impact of displacement The outcome of the government’s Ashraf al-Khalidi – a Baghdad- is increased child labour. Security Plan and the US surge based Iraqi researcher who writes are still not clear. But few of those under a pseudonym – and Victor To obtain a ration, displaced people interviewed were very optimistic. Tanner ([email protected]) were must register with the Ministry A young Sunni man from the Shi’a co-authors of ‘Sectarian Violence: of Trade. For a number of reasons neighbourhood of Shaab told us Radical Groups Drive Internal – lack of documentation, insecurity, that the Mahdi Army had made Displacement in Iraq’, published lack of trust in the authorities, pride itself scarce of late but “we know by the Brookings Institution- – many displaced apparently do not they will be back.” Ominously, there University of Bern Project on Internal register. This holds especially true has been increased intra-communal Displacement in October 2006. of people who can avoid the camps violence – Shi’a on Shi’a, Sunni on www.brookings.edu/fp/projects/ because they have relatives they can Sunni – as the radical groups splinter idp/200610_DisplacementinIraq.htm stay with or simply because they and local leaders vie for power. can afford to live without help. This article first appeared, in Across the country, displaced people, a slightly different form, in the The difficult living conditions trigger Sunni and Shi’a, say that sectarian April 2007 issue of the UNHCR much anger against the government. displacement is on the rise, and magazine, Refugees, No 146 ‘Iraq Local authorities are acutely aware of chances of returning home are – for Bleeds’ – a special issue devoted this. Local authorities at the provincial the foreseeable future – slim. “The to the millions displaced by the and district level are generally more government wants us to go back to Iraq crisis. The magazine can be effective than federal ministries. our houses in Baghdad,” one man obtained in hard copy direct from Every province has a displaced said. “I called my Sunni neighbours UNHCR, or downloaded in html or committee and an operations room. and they told me the insurgents pdf formats from www.unhcr.org are still using our house for their The Iraqi Red Crescent is the operations. How can we go back?” 1. www.almejlis.org 2. http://heyetnet.org/en/index.php primary national aid agency dealing 3. The first dynasty of the Islamic with the displaced. They work People are beginning to integrate 4. Mahdi Army (Jaish al Mahdi), a military force created mostly in the camps and collective the violence into how they live. Fear by the Shi’ite cleric, Muqtadfa al-Sadr settlements – the only non-sectarian now dictates which market you shop group with real structures and at; where you go to hospital – or a countrywide presence. Local even whether you go at all; whether communities sometimes also support you send your kids to school; what the displaced through informal passenger you take in your taxi,