Hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis are spending their eighth winter amid great suffering while they are languishing in rickety tents, missing the most basic basics of daily life, with their hopes of returning to their homes fading due to the destruction of their areas, in addition to security, economic and other reasons.
IDPs complain about the scarcity of aid provided by government agencies and humanitarian organizations (Al-Jazeera)
bad conditions
About this, Ahmed Ali, one of the displaced in the Khazir camp in Nineveh Governorate (northern Iraq), says, "We live in the worst conditions inside the camp, and we lack the most basic daily necessities."
He explains to Al Jazeera Net that his family, consisting of 11 people, lives in one small tent, and the same conditions are experienced by the rest of the families in the camp, where the number of some families exceeds 15 people living in one dilapidated tent.
The displaced added, "We suffer from a great shortage of various basic needs, and for days we have been in need of bread flour."
On the reasons for not returning to their homes, Ali explains that some families cannot return because of the destruction of their homes, security conditions, or tribal problems, stressing the absence of any serious government move to prepare their areas and secure their return to them.
He pointed out that some families were forced by the conditions of poverty in the afflicted areas to return to the camps again, in the hope of obtaining aid from humanitarian organizations.
Ali also complains about the lack of assistance provided by government agencies and humanitarian organizations, and he appealed - via Al Jazeera Net - to local and international organizations to speed up their relief.
Raad: The conditions in the camps are very tragic, and we see families and their children shivering from the cold (Al-Jazeera)
miserable life
In turn, Abdullah Raad, head of the "Volunteer With Us" Foundation, Erbil branch, says that the camps for the displaced witnessed severe cold and a sharp drop in temperatures until they reached 6 degrees below zero, especially in Al-Khazir camp, located between the governorates of Nineveh and Erbil, which includes more than a thousand families. displaced.
He adds to Al Jazeera Net that these displaced people live in a tent made of cloth and nylon that does not protect against the cold or the heat, so that some of them cry from the severity of the cold, and they are in semi-torn and worn out tents, especially since many of the tents have been over for years, although the validity of the tent is 6 months, According to the standards of international relief organizations, he pointed out that many of the tents had to be patched and used by the displaced.
Raad confirms that food is very scarce and is distributed at intervals by the Ministry of Migration and Displacement and by local and international organizations. He quotes one of the camp residents as saying, "After a break of about 6 months, a poor food ration was distributed and it was not sufficient for all camp residents."
The relief activist describes the conditions of the camp as very tragic, as the tents are wet and the soil is muddy as a result of the rains that damaged many of the tents and water entered them, so families and their children see wet and shivering, as well as the beds and blankets are wet with the lack of means of heating.
Raad talks about the story of eight-year-old Fatima (she was born in the camp) and did not see the outside world, as she spent all these years in the camp, and there are thousands of children whose cases are similar to Fatima.
He stresses that diseases, lack of heating and food shortages have led to the registration of many deaths in the camps, pointing out that there are no official or human rights figures on the number of cases.
Relief activist Arkan Abdul Razzaq Hussein considered that the most important needs of the displaced in the winter are heaters, fuel and bedding (Al-Jazeera)
displaced dream
For his part, relief activist Arkan Abdul Razzaq Hussein tells the story of one of the elderly people living in a random camp in the city of Al-Qaim, located on the border near Syria. He said, "The old man told us that his wish before death is to get a house to put a smile on his wife's face because she lived in suffering with him." To be able to realize the great sheikh's dream of building a small house, and after about 4 months he died.
He told Al Jazeera Net that government agencies provide very limited amounts of fuel to the displaced that do not meet their needs, and some organizations and popular campaigns are providing relief to the displaced.
Hussein, who is the head of the Nabd Al-Amal Foundation for Community Development, points out that there are basic needs for the displaced, such as food, water, medicine and baby formula, and other needs such as clothes.
Among the main needs of the winter season are heaters, fuel, bedding, blankets, pillows, carpets, and other things that are consumed every year, according to Hussein.
Hussein points out that the withdrawal of international organizations, many local organizations and volunteer teams working to collect donations from individuals and some merchants, constituted a very big obstacle in supporting the displaced families.
Al-Bayati stressed the need to provide the necessary ingredients for the return of the displaced to their homes (Al-Jazeera)
contingency plans
A member of the Commission for Human Rights, Dr. Ali Al-Bayati, says that the file of displaced persons in Iraq is not new, as it has existed for years, but with the recurrence of crises and wars, this file is renewed and additional numbers are added to the record of the displaced and their suffering.
He shows to Al Jazeera Net that the international migration figures speak of more than one million and 180 thousand displaced people throughout Iraq, nearly 700 thousand of them in the Kurdistan region, and the rest of the number is scattered in more than 10 governorates, especially Nineveh and Anbar.
Al-Bayati reveals a plan prepared by the Ministry of Immigration to end the file of the displaced, because its continuation is a violation of human rights, given that displacement and camps for the displaced are a rapid response process to protect those who fled wars, but with the end of wars, there must be a policy and plan to return them, but according to international standards, return must It should be voluntary and not compulsory.
Al-Bayati stresses the need for there to be elements of return, and the basic infrastructure of water, electricity and job opportunities must be available within a national plan in which all parties participate, and all files such as the security file and the file of services and infrastructure must be resolved, in addition to other files and basic services that must be present.
In order to end the displacement file, the member of the Commission on Human Rights stresses the need for two plans, the first is short-term and is represented in quick relief for the displaced in the winter season amid the significant drop in temperatures, and the provision of warm weather and quantities of fuel to help those in the camps face the bitter cold, in addition to aid Food, humanitarian, medical and others, which have declined a lot in the recent period due to the change in the orientations of international bodies in providing aid or grants.
As for the long-term plan, it is represented in providing the elements of return from real safety, solving social and clan problems and reconciliation, and providing infrastructure such as water, electricity, health, education, decent living opportunities and others, which is the basis for the return to be voluntary and not forced.