Iraq: A Displacement Crisis

[Creon01]

From their web page:

IOM is conducting on-going, in-depth assessments of recently displaced persons throughout Iraq. Monitors use Rapid Assessment questionnaires to gather information from IDP families, the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM), IDP tribal and community leaders, local NGOs, and local government bodies. Based on a database of this information, IOM disseminates bi-weekly, bi-annual, and annual reports containing updates, statistics, and analysis on displacement.This information assists IOM and other organizations in prioritizing areas of operation, planning emergency responses and designing long-term programs.

June 2008 updates and much more solid information can be found here http://www.iom-iraq.net/library.html#IDP

Creon

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 10 Jul 08: Failed Responsibility: Iraqi Refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon

.....The refugee crisis has presented a test that virtually all involved are failing. The three neighbouring host countries have performed best. There is much in their attitude toward Iraqis that is open to question and, as time elapsed, they unfortunately have hardened their policies. Still, Syria and Jordan in particular opened their borders and provided sanctuary at significant cost to their already fragile socio-economic fabric. Nothing of the sort can be said of the Iraqi government or of those in the international community primarily responsible for the refugees’ plight. The Iraqi government, neighbouring host countries, the U.S. and EU have a joint obligation to do more for the refugees’ welfare.

Today, as some relatively hopeful signs emanate from Iraq, there is a temptation to downplay the problem and bank on large-scale returns. Yet, although the refugee flow has begun to taper off as a result of decreasing levels of violence, relatively few of the displaced have felt confident enough to return; those who have tend to be IDPs rather than refugees (who fear they will not be allowed to re-enter their safe havens should violence once again pick up), and those refugees who have returned have often resettled in other than their original places of residence, because they found their own homes damaged, located in hostile areas or occupied by IDPs.

There also is a real risk that such progress as there has been will prove fleeting. The surge in troop presence has contributed to the relative calm, but those numbers are expected to decrease; more importantly, the shift in Iraq is largely due to other factors, principally a decision by key military actors either to lie low as long as U.S. forces remain in the country – the Sadrists and their Mahdi Army militias – or, in the case of Sunni tribes, to tactically ally themselves with the U.S. to fight a common enemy, al-Qaeda in Iraq. Underlying political conflicts have yet to be resolved and could reignite a bloody civil war. In other words, the world must be prepared for a possible second refugee wave.

Whether neighbouring states would be able to absorb that wave is doubtful. At that point, Western nations would face their second, arguably more critical test: to help neighbouring countries care for these refugees and accept greater numbers of them for resettlement or to see states, including important allies such as Jordan or critical regional actors such as Syria, buckle under the strain of a burden that far exceeds their limited resources.

Complete 47 page report at the link.

[Jedburgh]

Middle East Institute, Jul 08: Iraq's Refugee and IDP Crisis: Human Toll and Implications

Iraq's Refugee and IDP Crisis: Human Toll and Implications is a wide-ranging collection of essays that explore the challenges facing Iraq, the international community, and the refugees themselves. Fifteen leading experts and practitioners from around the world provide thought-provoking commentaries on a wide range of issues, including the factors that triggered the refugee flow; the response of the US, Iraq, and the international community; the prospects for the refugees' return; the impact on Iraq's neighbors, and much more. This special edition of MEI's prestigious Viewpoints series also includes maps and statistics about the state of Iraq’s millions of refugees and IDPs as well as a comprehensive bibliography and the testimonies of refugees themselves.

[Jedburgh]

ISN Security Watch, 5 Aug 08: Letters from Jordan: Iraqi Refugees in Limbo

....Jordan, which has issued legal residence permits to 60,000 Iraqi refugees, announced on 15 July that it would no longer grant residency to Iraqis. For the rest, staying in Jordan until a country grants them formal political asylum means submitting to a legal limbo and financial hardships in a place that is losing patience and growing increasingly inhospitable toward them.

Iraqi refugees now comprise more than 10 percent of Jordan's population, which has swelled from 5.2 million people before the war began to nearly 6 million people in just five years. The influx of refugees, along with the growing price of oil in a nation that has few natural resources of its own, has doubled the cost of food, transportation, public services and gas, according to a UNHCR report. Rent prices in some areas have nearly quadrupled. Many Jordanians blame Iraqis for the skyrocketing prices......

[Jedburgh]

USIP, Apr 09: Land, Property, and the Challenge of Return for Iraq’s Displaced

Summary

• Iraq has experienced several waves of mass displacement over the last forty years that have left complex land and property crises in their wake. As security has improved and some of the nearly five million displaced Iraqis have begun to come home, resolution of these issues are at the fore of sustainable return.

• The land and property challenges faced by returnees include claims of ownership and usage rights by the current occupants of their homes, destroyed and damaged property, business infrastructure that has fallen into disrepair, and a general lack of affordable housing units.

• Such land and property challenges are made all the more complex by the combination of short- and long-term displacement within the country and by the multiple causes of property loss, including expropriation by the Ba’ath regime, terrorism, sectarian violence, military operations, economic hardship, and a general climate of fear.

• Iraqi government property-recovery policies make a distinction between those who were displaced in the Ba’ath period (pre–March 2003) and those who were displaced in the post-Ba’ath period (post–March 2003).

• The Commission on the Resolution of Real Property Disputes provides recourse to victims of the Ba’ath regime through a quasijudicial process, and the Council of Ministers Decree 262 and Prime Minister Order 101 facilitate property recovery through an interagency administrative process for those who were displaced in 2006 and 2007.

• Although Decree 262 and Order 101 represent, in principle, a pragmatic and efficient process for property recovery, the process should be made accessible to a broader section of the displaced by expanding its temporal scope and allowing alternative means of proving one’s displacement and property rights. Implementation of Decree 262 and Order 101 should also be improved by clarifying the roles of the various agencies involved in the process and by providing a dedicated capacity for administration and oversight.

• Ultimately, the Iraqi government needs to adopt a holistic strategy that goes beyond property recovery and the limited categories of displaced targeted today. It will need to grapple with the aftermath of sectarian cleansing and the fact that many displaced will choose not to go home. Its policies must also reflect the realities of the housing shortage, the humanitarian needs of returnees, the changing security conditions, and the economic crisis affecting all Iraqis.

Complete 20-page paper at the link.

[Jedburgh]

GAO, 21 Apr 09: Iraqi Refugee Assistance: Improvements Needed in Measuring Progress, Assessing Needs, Tracking Funds, and Developing an International Strategic Plan

Iraqi refugees are one of the largest urban populations the UN has been called on to assist. The UN reports government estimates of up to 4.8 million Iraqis displaced within the last 5 years, with 2 million fleeing, primarily to Syria and Jordan.

GAO examined challenges in (1) measuring and monitoring progress in achieving U.S. goals for assisting Iraqi refugees, (2) providing humanitarian assistance to Iraqi refugees, (3) offering solutions for Iraqi refugees, and (4) developing an international strategic plan to address the Iraqi refugee situation.....

[Jedburgh]

IOM, May 09: Assessment of Iraqi Return

As displacement in Iraq has slowed to a trickle of isolated incidents, the focus turns to how best to assist the nearly 1.6 million internally displaced (IDP) families in the country, whether they wish to return, integrate into the place of displacement, or go elsewhere. While IOM assessments show that approximately 61% of interviewed post-2006 IDPs wish to return, another 39% of those interviewed wish to integrate permanently into their places of displacement or move to a third location.

Whether it is a matter of transport home, rebuilding property and livelihood or starting a permanent life in a different location, IDP and returnee families remain one of the most vulnerable populations in Iraq and are in urgent need of assistance to make their choices sustainable......