Limited space left for camps in Mosul: UN official

MOSUL, Iraq (Kurdistan24) – A United Nations official on Thursday said the organization was finding it difficult to build more camps in Mosul because of mass graves and landmines in the area.

Bruno Geddo, the UN’s top humanitarian official in Iraq, told the Associated Press there wasn’t enough space in the city to shelter the displaced.

According to humanitarian agencies, 700,000 people are expected to flee the remaining parts of Mosul as Iraqi security forces continue their advance.

However, Geddo revealed there was only room for about 180,000 people in the current camps.

“That is the thing that makes us somehow sleepless at night,” the UN official stated.

“You cannot be complacent when you still have one million people in the city,” he continued.

When Iraqi forces liberated the city of Fallujah from the Islamic State (IS), nearly 65,000 people escaped the area within three days.

Relating the Mosul situation to Fallujah, Geddo said relief workers are expected to be overwhelmed with the flow of people.

“It is bound sooner or later that you may have tens of thousands of people who come out in flash outflow,” he told AP.

Since the military operation to liberate Mosul from IS began on Oct. 17, about 82,000 people are thought to have fled the city.

Geddo explained the UN had built camps 40-80 miles outside the city where 81 percent of the displaced are currently staying.

Moreover, the UN official said the organization plans to build camps closer to the Mosul front lines to accommodate civilians fleeing.

“We are now planning to use the fact that the front lines have gotten closer to the city to try and build camps much closer,” Geddo concluded.

Editing by Ava Homa