Iraq: Iraq ‑ Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #5, Fiscal Year (FY) 2019
HIGHLIGHTS
• UN calls on GoI to improve coordination amid IDP camp closures and relocations
• USAID/FFP partner WFP supports transition of food assistance to GoI
• Access constraints delay and disrupt humanitarian operations, affecting 336,000 people in August
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
• Relief agencies continue to express concern regarding forced returns and coerced movements of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as the Government of Iraq (GoI) consolidates and closes IDP camps throughout the country. In late August, the GoI began consolidating and closing Ninewa Governorate IDP camps, resulting in the relocation of nearly 10,200 households—representing 27 percent of all Ninewa camp IDPs—as of September 29, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Relief actors report poor communication between local authorities on the relocation process, lack of advance notice to humanitarian organizations and IDPs, and—in some cases—forced or coerced movements.
• IOM recently reported—via its State/PRM-funded Data Tracking Matrix—a decrease in the number of IDPs countrywide, from nearly 1.61 million IDPs in June to approximately 1.55 million IDPs in August. Approximately 4.35 million people had returned to areas of origin between January 2014 and August 2019, IOM reports.
• In FY 2019, the U.S. Government (USG) provided nearly $470.6 million in funding to address the humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations in Iraq, as well as Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries. With USG funding, humanitarian partners are providing education, food, health, livelihoods, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance to conflict-affected populations.