European organizations criticize Iraq’s plan to close displacement camps

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two European humanitarian organizations on Wednesday criticized Iraq’s recent decision to close down displacement camps, arguing that it would endanger hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians.

Both the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) expressed their deep concern regarding Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement’s Nov. 8 order to close down camps in Kirkuk, Salahaddin, and Anbar provinces by the end of this month and remaining facilities at the beginning of 2021.

Read More: Iraq says thousands of IDPs return to homes in Nineveh, plans to shutter two large camps

“Closing camps before residents are willing or able to return to their homes does little to end the displacement crisis. On the contrary, it keeps scores of displaced Iraqis trapped in this vicious cycle of displacement, leaving them more vulnerable than ever, especially in the middle of a raging pandemic,” said NRC Secretary-General Jan Egeland in a statement.

The NRC explained that many of the internally displaced persons' (IDP) areas of origin are still destroyed and any of them returning home also risk being blocked at checkpoints or even arrested for lack of identification or perceived affiliation with armed groups.

Euro-Med Monitor stated, “This decision may leave hundreds of thousands of displaced persons homeless as their houses were destroyed in previous conflicts with ISIS. This comes amid the absence of a definite plan to rebuild the devastated areas.” 

NRC called on the Iraqi government to provide a clear plan for camp closures and share that information with families at least a month ahead of time so that they can make necessary arrangements.

“We urge the international community to keep supporting the Iraqis forced out of camps, many of whom have no chance of returning home. With the pandemic and onset of winter, it is urgent to scale up emergency support,” Egeland said.

The United Nations in late October announced that the Iraqi government’s intention to close the camps for IDPs by the end of 2020 was taken by Baghdad “independently.”

Read More: UN: Baghdad 'independently' decided to shutter all IDP camps by end of 2020

Nearly six million people have fled to other areas inside Iraq, to the Kurdistan Region, or neighboring countries since the Islamic State seized two-thirds of Iraq in 2014. As of February 2020, 1.4 million IDPs remained in protracted displacement throughout the country, according to OCHA’s ReliefWeb.

Almost 55,730 individuals reside in 43 IDP formal camps, or 67 camps when including sub-camps in composite camp areas in Iraq.

 According to NRC tracking of people who have been forced to leave camps in Baghdad and Kerbala in the past weeks shows that nearly half of them have not been able to return to their areas of origin, according to the International Organization of Migration.

“Many end up in precarious settings on the edge of towns, in damaged, unsafe apartments or unfinished buildings, lacking necessities and health care, and forced into further displacement.”

In its statement, the Euro-Med Monitor called on the Iraqi government to “cancel its arbitrary decision, to adopt a definite plan to close the camps, to share with the displaced persons the necessary information on the reconstruction processes, and to give them enough time to take appropriate measures to return.“

Editing by John J. Catherine