How does Iraq's displaced receive their fifth Ramadan?

Emad Al-Shammari-Arbil

Years are going on, and the events are marked by striking changes in different trends and issues. The displaced in Iraq remain unchanged, except the erosion of tents, the scarcity of food and medicine, unemployment and security breaches that stand in the way of the return of many.

"Ramadan is the fifth of his fasting in exile, where calls to return to the homeland are being dispelled with a deliberate disregard of the government in Baghdad, and returning to our areas, which they call liberated, is impossible in the absence of financial compensation for building and returning destroyed houses." Thus, Juma Muhsen, one of the displaced people of the camp of Bihara near Irbil (in the Kurdistan region), started his speech to Al-Jazeera Net about the situation in the camps.

He added that the fear and anxiety of most of the areas returned to some of the displaced because of the loss of security and stability and the increase in security violations in recent times, and these reasons may be other reasons to prevent many thinking of return, noting that Ramadan this year may be more difficult compared to previous years in the camps .

The director of Bihara camp in Erbil, Badr al-Din Najmuddin, did not go far away from Mohsen's remarks. He stressed that the majority wanted to return, but that the security situation was the main reason for preventing it, as well as the lack of jobs to provide for living in the areas that the state regained control over.

He pointed out that the support of relief organizations this year is very weak compared to previous years, which exacerbated the tragedy in the month of Ramadan, and placed a heavy burden on the displaced who led them to submissiveness under the hammer to stay in the tents forced, and reluctant to return for fear of an unknown fate.

Lack of job opportunities
In the camps, the families depend on the aid of local and international organizations and some benefactors. However, the quantity remains the only source for them.

"The camp is devoid of jobs and beyond. We have never been able to find jobs. Within the cities, displaced people and Syrian refugees have been forced to work underprivileged. This has reduced opportunities for employment. We have to surrender to unemployment. Ramadan and the rest of the months are similar in terms of poor living and loss of services. "He said.

He added that the situation is much worse after the absence of organizations that had service projects through which some young people get jobs, considering that Ramadan this year is much worse than last year in terms of employment opportunities.

Unemployment and the scarcity of aid had made the situation more complex, and the return to the areas they had abandoned was only available to the staff, as rents were high and work was lost.

Solutions in politics
Financial compensation may be the best solution to enable affected families to return to their areas, according to what she told the island Net member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives for the province of Nineveh Huda Jarallah al-Ghabsha.

This was considered the best solution because of the lack of reconstruction projects, and financial grants would enable returnees to renovate and rehabilitate their homes.

Al-Ghabsha blamed the Ministry of Immigration for the delay in organizing the return of displaced persons and not rushing to close their file.

She concluded by saying, "As a regulatory and legislative body, we are constantly demanding $ 4,200 for each displaced person. However, the implementation of the order rests with the prime minister and is based on the state budget."

The head of the civil society and human rights committee in Anbar province, Amira Adai al-Dulaimi, blamed the federal government for not paying attention to the file of the displaced and ignoring their tragic situation and the lack of assistance during Ramadan. The absence of international organizations remained.

Dulaimi stressed the need to develop radical plans and solutions to end the displacement crisis, to compensate for the shortage of humanitarian aid, especially in the month of Ramadan, which is characterized by the need of the body for some of its own food.

And considered that the power outages and lack of water in the holy month is unfair to the officials in the House of Representatives; it led to an increase in diseases accompanied by the absence of medicines to become the month of fasting more burdensome than the rest of the months for the displaced.

Derayah, the politicians of default, did not find it useful to meet the needs and needs of the displaced, to pass their fifth Ramadan in a worse situation than before, amid a halo of deferred fate to a silent notice,