Iraq: Iraq: Humanitarian Bulletin, August 2019
Highlights
• SRSG visits Sinjar on fifth anniversary of ISIL occupation.
• IDPs in Ninewa repatriated as camps close and consolidate.
• World Humanitarian Day marked in Baghdad and around Iraq on 19 August.
• Iraq Humanitarian Fund allocations underway.
Figures
- # people in need: 6.7m
- # people targeted for assistance: 1.75m
- # of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps targeted for assistance: 0.5m
- # of IDPs outside camps targeted for assistance: 0.55m
- # of IDP returnees targeted for assistance: 0.5m
- # highly vulnerable people in host communities targeted for assistance: 0.2m
SRSG Mission to Sinjar
On 3 August 2019, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, visited Sinjar, in Ninewa Governorate, on the fifth anniversary of the atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against Iraq’s Yazidi community. During the visit, she highlighted the continuing plight of the Yazidis and reiterated her call for urgent action to ensure stable governance and security arrangements. The destruction of houses in Sinjar, as well as the lack of ownership documents are among the major obstacles to voluntary, dignified and sustainable returns. In recent years, UN-Habitat has rehabilitated more than 1,200 houses and delivered more than 2,800 occupancy certificates.
IDPs Transferred from Ninewa Camps
In late August 2019, Ninewa Governorate authorities abruptly began transferring internally displaced people (IDPs) who are not from Ninewa to their governorates of origin in late August, at short notice, and with limited communication with IDPs or coordination with government and security counterparts in other governorates.
During August, approximately 1,600 IDPs (300 households) were returned from Hamam Al Alil (HAA), As Salamiyah and Nimrud IDP camps in Ninewa to locations in Al-Anbar, Kirkuk and Salah Al-Din governorates. The first round of returns from HAA camps took place on 23 August to various locations in Al-Anbar. The transfer was characterized by lack of information-sharing and coordination between authorities in Ninewa and Al-Anbar and lack of reliable communication with IDPs around transportation to preferred destinations. Despite undergoing security screening and receiving clearance prior to departure, some families were denied security clearances by Al-Anbar authorities to enter camps in the governorate, or were prevented from returning to their home towns, and have become secondarily displaced in camps as well as out-of-camp locations.
