Iraq Crisis Situation Report No. 29 (24 – 30 January 2015) [EN/AR/KU]

Highlights

• Kirkuk City stable following multiple ISIL attacks
• Food partners regain access to Anbar Governorate for the first time since October, despite a challenging security situation
• Protection monitors express concern over ethnic tensions in camps
• Arbat IDP camp population far exceeds planned capacity, as newly displaced people continue to arrive in Sulaymaniyah
• The first of a series of gender and protection mainstreaming workshops for civil society members held in Erbil

Situation Overview

The situation in Kirkuk remains calm following heavy fighting between ISIL militants and Kurdish Peshmerga forces late Thursday night and into Friday morning. Late 29 January, ISIL forces attacked three towns on the outskirts of the oil-rich city (Maktab Khalid, Tal Alward and Maryam Bek), which were later retaken by the Peshmerga, with additional air support from coalition forces. While no civilian casualties or displacement were reported, dozens of ISIL militants and Peshmerga forces were reported killed.

Since 9 January, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Arbat Camp in Sulaymaniyah has reached over 2,700 families, with over 700 families without tents; far exceeding the camp’s planned capacity of 1,000 families. Camp staff report that as many as four families are forced to share 4x4 sq metre space inside a tent. WASH and Health clusters have raised serious concerns of disease outbreaks in the coming days. In response, the government has allocated land nearby to host the new arrivals. Site planners surveyed the land, with camp development expected in the coming weeks. Most IDPs in the camp are from Salah al-Din, followed by Anbar, Diyala and Ninewa. New IDP arrivals were provided with winterised relief items, including cooking sets, kerosene, heaters, blankets, mattresses, plastic sheeting, and jerry cans. In addition, newly-arrived children received warm clothes. Humanitarian partners are requesting immediate support with WASH facilities and supplies (hygiene kits, jerry cans), as well as digging cesspools, the installation of latrines and showers, and increased water supply.

On 25 January, fighting broke out between groups of Yazidi and Muslim (Arab) IDPs at the Kabarto II IDP Camp (Dahuk). A disagreement between a Yazidi and an Arab child reportedly triggered the fighting. The parents got involved and this reportedly eventually escalated into a gunfight. The police and the special military moved in quickly to calm the situation. No serious casualties were reported except for minor injuries, but as many as 20 people were arrested. Many Arab Muslims moved out of the camp the night of 26 January in fear, but managed to return after the police intervened. Security has been hardened in and around the camp. The Kabarto II IDP camp is home to over 2,300 families (over 13,800 individuals) of mixed ethnicity. The Vice-Governor has given assurances that the authorities will take all necessary measures to prevent a re-occurrence. The potentially less-than-peaceful co-existence is beginning to be a source of concern to humanitarian agencies in the camps because of possible revenge actions.

In Baharka Camp (Erbil), the deplorable WASH situation has been raised by government and donors. It appears it will take months to install WASH in the new cabins and the extension seems to be taking a long time to open. Toilets are reportedly broken and unusable; roads to WASH facilities muddy and impassable, and people are urinating and defecating in the open.

Protection monitors continue documentation and verification of an increasing number of forced eviction cases of IDPs from different communities inside Kirkuk City. Over 20 IDP families in Kirkuk from Diyala Governorate were evicted from their houses and escorted to the Kirkuk border in early January; the IDPs had been in Kirkuk since 2006. A further over 170 families were threatened with eviction in the week beginning 11 January. The Governor of Kirkuk, responding to the UN appeals, sent an official letter assuring the humanitarian community that IDPs will stay in Kirkuk as long as their areas of origin are not safe to return.

According to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) released this week, 2.18 million persons have now been identified as internally displaced across Iraq, an increase of over 53,400 individuals over the last reporting period on 25 December. Of the additional over 8,900 displaced families displaced, over 5,100 were in Diyala Governorate due to the ongoing conflict. Of the total number of displaced people Iraq-wide, more than 650,000 people are living in critical shelter arrangements such as informal settlements, religious buildings, schools, and unfinished buildings, the DTM (as of 15 January) reported. The largest segment of this critically sheltered population is in Dahuk (29 per cent), and in Anbar (15 per cent). Overall, across all locations, the most common critical shelter arrangement is unfinished and abandoned buildings, with over 374,400 individuals. Preliminary analysis representing 14.6 per cent of the total displaced population found that 18 per cent of the IDPs cited shelter and housing as a priority need, while 16 per cent cited NFIs as a priority need.

For the first time since October, humanitarian regained access to Anbar Governorate, despite a challenging security situation. Four districts have been reached, and 31,800 displaced people were assisted with family food parcels (FFPs) since 22 January. Food partners have also regained access to the Zummar sub-district (Dahuk Governorate), previously under ISIL control. The humanitarian situation of displaced Iraqis in the southern governorates of Najaf, Kerbala and Babel has reached critical levels, following an influx of people from elsewhere in the country, according to an assessment by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). WFP currently assists 50,000 displaced families in Basrah, Thi Qar, Qadissiya, Missan, Wassit, Muthanna, Najaf, Kerbala, and Babel.