IOM opens office in disputed Iraqi town to help displaced residents return home
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Friday that it had opened a new office to address “the return and reintegration needs” of displaced residents in the disputed town of Jalawla, located in Diyala province.
The office, known as a Community Resource Centre (CRC), has been set up in partnership with Iraq’s Coordination and Monitoring Centre (JCMC) and various NGOs operating in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
“IOM is one of many partners working to carry out protection, health, livelihood and education programmes through the CRC network,” added IOM Iraq Chief of Mission Gerard Waite.
According to IOM, of the nearly six million Iraqis that have been displaced as a result of the rise of the Islamic State in 2014, more than 1.8 million continue to be displaced. Many of the 4.1 million who have returned home live in “precarious conditions,” suffering from the lack of services, decline in livelihood opportunities, the destruction of public infrastructure, and safety concerns.
Jalawla, also known as Gulala in Kurdish, is an area disputed by the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Region. The town has been under the control of Iraqi troops since October 2017 following their attack and military takeover of Kirkuk and other disputed regions from the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces.
Since then, Jalawla has seen repeated attacks carried out by remnants of the Islamic State.
On Friday, three farmers were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off under a tractor in Jalawla.
Read More: Separate blasts in Iraq's disputed territories kill 1, wound 4
Iraqi security forces announced later that day that they had discovered and confiscated an Islamic State drone on an island in a lake outside of Jalawla.
Read More: Military announces discovery of ISIS drone on an island in an Iraqi lake
In late July, a twin bombing rocked the town, injuring seven people, according to local police.
Read More: Explosions injure seven in Iraq’s disputed Jalawla town
IOM's new office will provide “legal counselling and representation; informal education activities; Housing, Land and Property counselling; livelihood, capacity and skill-building opportunities, as well as making referrals to protection, mental health and psychosocial support, and other services within the CRC coverage areas.”
The organizations said that such activities “will help us put mechanisms in place to facilitate safe returns and the reintegration of mixed populations in affected communities.”
IOM has more than 1,400 staff members based in Baghdad, Erbil, Basra, and various other cities in the country who, as the group's website states, are "dedicated to improving the conditions of the displaced and to working with local host communities."
