This is the first story in a series following HAI’s staff in Iraq as they navigate camps for internally displaced persons and refugees.
For decades, Iraq has experienced a continuous state of conflict and internal displacement, with ISIS triggering the latest wave in 2012. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), approximately three million Iraqis were displaced after being forced to flee their homes. There are another 300,000 refugees in Iraq – the majority escaping violence and persecution in Syria. While Iraq has made some social and economic progress, its response to vital areas such as resettling its displaced population must be strengthened and prioritized.
When ISIS occupied Iraq, they looted towns, burnt places of worship, and destroyed businesses, homes, and farms. In many areas, buildings remain uninhabitable, sources of income are few, and access to essential services such as clean water, electricity, basic health care, and education is still inadequate. Such challenges create barriers not only to return, but to remain. Interviews with internally displaced Iraqis have revealed that many would prefer to integrate into their new communities or to relocate somewhere else.
“If they tell us to go back, we will not. If I go back, I do not have a salary and my house is destroyed. Life will be very difficult there.” Said Qasim Salih Mahdi, a participant with Heartland Alliance International (HAI) who lives in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP).
Although many individuals and families have returned home since the end of the war with ISIS in 2017, approximately 1.2 million people remain internally displaced. Of the total number of internally displaced, more than half sought refuge in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), where HAI is active across several provinces. In the region, we focus on a number of areas, including supporting displaced people, minorities, and victims of trafficking, addressing violence against women, improving mental health infrastructure, and providing juveniles access to justice.
Millions of Iraqis who fled their homes during the war have to start over from nothing. But they don’t have to start over alone. In partnership with organizations such as the UNHCR, HAI began working in and around camps for IDPs to support individuals and families facing multiple economic, physical, psychological, and social barriers to returning home.
Mariam Darwiche, Protection Project Manager with HAI, shares with us that she began working in the humanitarian field during the Syrian crisis and refugee influx in her home country of Lebanon in 2012. Mariam’s team provides protection, registration, legal advice, emergency assistance, and referrals to displaced persons in the KRI.
“We primarily work in Sulaymaniah where there are four camps for internally displaced people – the Ashti camp, the Arbat camp, the Tazade camp, and the Qurato camp. The fifth camp we support is for Syrian refugees,” explained Mariam. She later added, “the camps represent a safe space for vulnerable people like women and girls, persons with disabilities, and older people. In the camps, they have better access to services and they feel more protected.”
Though these camps are vital to millions, some camps are at risk of being closed, forcing many to return home without the basic essentials needed to survive, rebuild, and thrive. HAI remains committed to ensuring camps for IDPs and refugees remain open until a safer and more permanent solution is available. Until then, we will continue delivering high-quality social services and emergency assistance to individuals and families living in and around the camps.
“If they close the camps today and tell the IDPs to go back to Yathrib or other destroyed villages, tomorrow they will come back.” Qasim affirmed.
In the next installment of HAI’s learning series, we will discuss the impact of camp closures and the compounding effects of Covid-19 on HAI’s work in Iraq. Subscribe to our emails here to ensure you never miss an update.
