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New Refugees International Report on Returns in Iraq Following the Battle against the Islamic State

Refugees International released a new report today examining the prospects for return of the three million people in Iraq displaced by the protracted battle against the Islamic State (ISIS). The report, Too Much Too Soon: Displaced Iraqis and the Push to Return Home, outlines the challenges of returning to towns and villages across Iraq that have been liberated from ISIS control. The report is based on a fact-finding mission to the northern and central regions of Iraq in July 2017.

The internal displacement of millions of Iraqis has been a long-standing issue in Iraq; some three million Iraqi men, women, and children have been newly displaced as a result of ISIS activity since 2014. The displaced Iraqis live in camps, in informal settlements, in rented accommodation, and in host communities throughout the country. The ten-year reconstruction plan for Iraq announced by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Abadi in late June 2017 includes a goal “to return all displaced persons to their places of origin.” In some locations, local officials have expressed eagerness to start that process. However, the Refugees International report underlines serious concerns about how, when, and where these returns can or should take place.

The Refugees International report finds that Iraqis most recently displaced by ISIS activity (who represent a majority of Iraq’s current internally displaced population) are returning home much too soon. Not only is physical safety a fundamental problem (many areas, especially the ones most recently taken from ISIS, are heavily contaminated with improvised explosive devices and mines), but there is also widespread fear of revenge and retribution killings by and of religious and political groups that perceive others to be their enemies. Moreover, potential returnees are sometimes unwelcome by security forces and local authorities who are unwilling to protect people they consider their opponents, or sympathizers with their opponents. Though some internally displaced persons (IDPs) are spontaneously returning even to unsafe, unprepared areas, others are being pressured to leave their current places of residence against their will. According to customary international law and universal human rights principles, IDPs must not be forced to return.

Based on its findings, Refugees International makes the following recommendations:

• The international donor community must ensure that funds for humanitarian aid to Iraqi IDPs – including returnees still in need of assistance – continue to flow even as the transition to stabilization activities happens.

• The Government of Iraq – including the Ministry of Displacement and Migration, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Trade – should put more resources into creating acceptable conditions for IDP returns. The government should also increase resources for reconciliation programs implemented in partnership with local and international groups, and donors must make funding such programs a priority.

• The international community, particularly the United States and United Nations, must continue to support the government of Iraq in its response to IDPs to ensure that returns are safe, voluntary, and dignified, and that humanitarian assistance before and after return remains an integral part of the response.

• The 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan, being developed by officials of the UN, international agencies, and NGOs in coordination with the government of Iraq, should include IDP returns as an area of focus, with an emphasis on avoiding premature returns in all areas. Assistance in obtaining civil documentation for IDPs and returnees, and in resolving housing, land, and property issues, must also be high priorities.

• Given current overall circumstances in Iraq, the government of Iraq and provincial and local authorities should not force or pressure IDPs to return. Any de facto incentives must be coupled with accurate information to potential returnees on conditions in their home areas.