Mosul Humanitarian Crisis, 1 November 2016

IN NUMBERS

1.2-1.5m
PEOPLE COULD BE AFFECTED OVERALL BY THE MILITARY OPERATIONS

1m
COULD BE DISPLACED
IN A WORST CASE SCENARIO

700,000
PEOPLE MAY NEED
TO BE ACCOMMODATED IN EMERGENCY SHELTERS

18,000
PEOPLE ARE CURRENTLY DISPLACED

3,300
DISPLACED PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY RETURNED TO THEIR HOMES

50%
OF THE DISPLACED PEOPLE ARE IN CAMPS

OVERVIEW

• In a worst case scenario, the Mosul humanitarian response is likely to be the single largest and most complex in the world in 2016.

• As many as 1.2-1.5 million people could be affected overall by the military operations.

• In a worst-case scenario, up to 1 million girls, boys, women and men could be displaced and 700,000 may need to be accommodated in emergency shelters.

• As military operations to retake Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) continue, civilians are at extreme risk of being caught up in cross-fire or targeted by snipers.

• Tens of thousands of people may be forcibly expelled, trapped between fighting lines, besieged or held as human shields. Chemical weapons may be used.

• Public facilities, thoroughfares and homes may be booby-trapped or contaminated by improvised mines and explosive hazards. Children, women, the elderly and disabled will be particularly vulnerable. Delays, abuses, and irregularities may occur during screening of displaced families.

DISPLACEMENT AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS

• According to the International Organization for Migration there are currently more than 17,900 people displaced. At least 3,300 additional people who fled during the first week of the military operations have returned to their homes following improved security conditions in the immediate area. The situation is fluid and the numbers and patterns of displacement are fluctuating as the front lines move. Overall displacement is expected to rise rapidly as the military operation moves closer to urban areas.

• Just over 50 per cent of the people displaced so far are in camps: Qayyarah-Jadah, Zelikan and Hasansham camps in Ninewa Governorate; Debaga camp in Erbil Governorate; and Bzeibiz central camp in Fallujah district in Anbar Governorate.

• Just under half of the displaced population are sheltering in private settings or critical shelters in host communities.

• As humanitarian actors gain access to recently retaken areas, it is clear that humanitarian needs in vulnerable front line communities are significant. Further assessments are planned to better understand the needs of these vulnerable communities who have lived under the control of ISIL for more than two years.

• UNHCR reports that 44 Iraqis from Mosul have crossed the border into Syria since 17 October.