IRAQ Idps Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place As Displacement Crisis Deepens
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30 June 2015 IRAQ IDPs caught between a rock and a hard place as displacement crisis deepens As of June 2015, at least 3.1 million people had been displaced by conflict in Iraq since January 2014 and 8.2 million were in need of humanitar- ian assistance. As in previous conflicts, civilians have been directly targeted by all warring parties and continue to constitute the majority of casual- ties. Violence against civilians has driven three mil- lion people into internal displacement in just eighteen months. In 2014 alone, Iraq suffered the Internally displaced Iraqis after their arrival from Mosul at Khazair checkpoint, where they seek permission to travel on to Erbil. UNHCR is carrying out needs assessments. highest new internal displacement worldwide, UNHCR / R. Nuri with at least 2.2 million displaced. This has exac- erbated the destructive legacy of some 35 years of conflict and international sanctions which have left infrastructure in disarray and about one million living in protracted displacement, mostly in Baghdad. The ability of displaced people to access safe areas of refuge has been dramatically restricted by the fragmen- tation of society along sectarian lines and security threats linked to terrorism and counter-insurgency. The Kurdish-controlled north including Kirkuk city, hosts more than a third of Iraq’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) – some 1.2 million as of June 2015, including minority groups. Some 611,700 Sunni Arabs displaced from areas under the control of the Islamic State (ISIL) now find themselves with few safe locations to flee to. Sunnis from areas controlled by ISIL have increasingly been denied the possibility of fleeing to areas controlled by the Government of Iraq (GoI) or by the pershmerga (the militia forces in Iraqi Kurdistan), thus having no choice except to return to areas controlled by ISIL. This has further cemented the division of Iraq into, Kurdish, Sunni and Shia entities. Humanitarian access to areas beyond government or Kurdish control remains limited with IDPs in these areas being extremely hard-to-reach. In areas accessible to humanitarian organisations, assistance has been com- plicated by lack of documentation, and administrative challenges. Funding shortages resulting from lower oil revenues have seriously limited the capacity of the national authorities to respond. Other Middle Eastern crises (notably in Syria and Yemen) and donor fatigue have diminished prospects of sufficient international assis- tance to meet IDPs´ humanitarian needs. www.internal-displacement.org TURKEY - DAHUK 1.2 million IDPs Sheikhan Tal Afar Akre Tilkaef - Sinjar Al ARBIL A - Hamdaniya S Al NINAWÁ Mosul S U L SYRIAN ARAB A Al Y REPUBLIC Ba’aj M Al AT Ā Hatra Al - N Shirqat Al TA'MIM Hawiga - ĪY (KIRUK) A H 612,000 IDPs Tooz Baiji Tikrit Ru’ua - SALAH AD Kalar - DIN Kifri Daur ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF Samarra Al Qa’em Khanaquin Haditha Thethar Al Khalis IRAN Ana - Balad MuqdadiyaDIYALÁ Fares Heet Ba’quba Baladrooz Al Ramadi 1.3 million IDPs Al BAGHDAD - Falluja AL ANBAR - BABIL WASIT Al Rutba - KARBALA' JORDAN - MAYSAN AL QADISIYAH- - - - DHI QAR SAUDI ARABIA AN NAJAF AL MUTHANNÁ AL BASRAH KUWAIT People internally displaced by conflict and violence in Iraq, June 2015 Capital GOI control International boundary ISIL control Governorate boundary KRG control District boundary The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by IDMC. 0 100 200 300 km www.internal-displacement.org Map by: IDMC More maps are available at www.internal-displacement.org/search?Type=Map Iraq: IDPs caught between a rock and a hard place as displacement crisis deepens Background to displacement guards of the Sunni Minister Rafi Al Issayi were ar- rested in December 2012, demonstrations broke out National and international agencies working with in Anbar, Salah al-Din, Ninewa, Kirkuk and Baghdad. IDPs in Iraq, such as the Ministry of Migration and The protests brought together a range of religious Displacement (MoDm), the UN Refugee Agency figures, tribal leaders and political organisations (UNHCR) and the International Organization for such as the Muslim Brotherhood, former Ba´athists Migration (IOM), divide internal displacement into and Salafists. Protests were met with violent assaults three periods: the current displacement crisis which by government security forces, notably in Hawija in started in 2014, the protracted displacement situa- April 2013 and Ramadi in December 2013 when Iraqi tion which arose as a result of the sectarian conflict Security Forces (ISF) opened fire on protestors (ISW, from 2006 to 2008 and previous protracted conflict- October 2014). induced displacement mainly related to the policies of the government of Saddam Hussein. The Sunni insurgency and the power vacuum left by ISF’s collapse has enabled ISIL to expand rapidly The fragmentation of the Iraqi state can be traced (ICG, March 2015). As of June 2015, ISIL controlled back to Saddam Hussein’s rule, which purged any most Sunni Arab areas including Mosul, Shirqat, significant non-Ba’athist groups and leaders. This Hawija and all of Anbar province with the exception has led to the fragmentation of the state that was of Khalidiya, Habbaniya and Haditha (ISW 22 June further exacerbated by the de-Ba´athification pro- 2015). As of mid-2015, the government exerts full cess and decentralisation implemented by the US control over the capital, Baghdad and the southern government following its invasion of Iraq in 2003 provinces in addition to several cities in the central (Harling, 2007). The absence of a central government governorates of Salah al-Din and Diyala. However, weakened national state institutions, including the ISF’s control relies heavily on several Shiite militia army, helping spawn a proliferation of militias. groups, which operate autonomously in certain ar- eas. In 2014, the Kurdish authorities expanded their The most recent wave of displacement began in control outwards from the autonomous area of the early 2014 with the rise of ISIL alongside other Non- Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) administered by the State Armed Groups (NSAGs). They expanded their Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to seize control control over Anbar, Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Diyala, of Kirkuk and Ninewa (US Department of Defense, in the aftermath of the Sunni insurgency in 2013 April 2015). (PBS, 28 October 2014). The swift successes of ISIL came against a backdrop of years of political mar- ginalisation of Sunnis (Benraad, 2012). Displacement figures Sunni grievances had been simmering since the IDMC estimates that at least 4 million Iraqis were March 2010 elections when Ayad Allawi, who was internally displaced as of 15 June 2015, a tenth of all perceived as the conciliatory candidate, was side- worldwide displacement reported by IDMC as of the lined in favour of Nouri al-Maliki (New York Times, end of 2014 (IDMC, May 2015). In 2014 alone, Iraq suf- March 2010). Following the elections, Maliki’s gov- fered the highest new internal displacement world- ernment issued several arrest warrants for the most wide with at least 2.2 million displaced. Additionally prominent Sunni political leaders, most notably the over 180,000 Iraqi refugees had sought refuge former Vice President Tareq Hashimi (BBC, December abroad as of 4 June 2015 (UNHCR, 4 June 2015). 2011). The government also failed to implement plans to integrate Sunni men into the national Iraqi IDMC bases this figure on estimates published armed forces (ICG, August 2013). When the body- by IOM and the UN – including the UN Office for 30 June 2015 www.internal-displacement.org 3 Iraq: IDPs caught between a rock and a hard place as displacement crisis deepens Key events and internal displacement in Iraq As of 7 June 2015 Dec 2014 Peshmerga launches offensive 3.5 breaking the siege on Sinjar Sept 2014 Jan 2015 June 2014 US sends Dec 2013 ISF re-captures towns 3.0 ISIL seizes all of additional troops ISF targets protestors under ISIL’s control Ninewa and in Ramadi in Diyala Anbar, Tikrit Oct 2014 Jan 2014 ISIL captured 2.5 Sistani issues fatwa ISF loses control of Heet Mar 2015 leading to the creation Fallujah and parts 2nd battle of Tikrit of Ramadi of the Popular 2.0 Mobilization Units Mar 2014 Internally displaced people Maliki wins most Apr 2015 seats in first ISF captures Tikrit Aug 2014 1.5 general election Coalition airstrikes begin supporting ISF/Peshmerga counter-offensive May 2015 May 2014 Renewed 1.0 New PM Abadi Post-election hostilities between ISIL Number of IDPs and refugees, in millions wave of Peshmerga opens violence and ISF/ 0.5 humanitarian corridor militias in from Sinjar through Ramadi Syria into Kurdistan 0 Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June 2013 2014 2015 Sources: IOM, DTM Iraq www.internal-displacement.org the Coordination of HumanitarianMay Affairs 2014 (OCHA), • NovemberJanuary 2014 2014 to May 2014 480,000May individuals 2015 UNHCR, and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq were displaced following violent clashes be- (UNAMI) – as well as data published by national and tween ISF and Sunni militant groups in Anbar. local authorities. • June 2014 to August 2014 total number of IDPs 1.2 million of which 833,800 individuals fled IDMC’s estimate combines IDP caseloads from their homes in the north-eastern province of two periods of displacement: three million IDPs Ninewa. displaced from January 2014 to May 2015 and 1.1 • From September 2014 to June 2015, 1,378,200 million IDPs still living in displacement following the IDPs were displaced. (IOM, June 2015) 2006-2008 sectarian conflict. According to IOM Returnees Tracking Overview, as Current monitoring mechanisms do not differentiate of June 2015, over 180,384 IDPs had returned to the protracted displacement from new displacement governorates of Diyala, Ninewa, Salah Al-Din and and therefore the current figure might include dou- Anbar.