Climate-induced displacement rises in Iraq amid wobbled recovery
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq in recent years has witnessed an increase in climate-inducted displacement as the country is recovering from another mass displacement triggered by a three-year war against the so-called Islamic State, according to a new report.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Sunday published a 16-page report, detailing the impact of drought on Iraqi communities’ displacement, particularly from northern and western parts of the country.
“The percentage of respondents [1,079 individuals interviewed] reportedly displaced due to drought has increased from 2 percent to 5 percent nationwide,” the report said, identifying Nineveh Plains, where ISIS announced its self-styled caliphate in 2014, as the “highest” region among the surveyed locations for climate-inducted displacement.
“All my neighbors have left,” Abu Rashid, a respondent and resident of the province, told NRC, saying he has become a “daily laborer” from a farm owner who used to employ workers.
Iraq’s south, where the country’s two main rivers, known as Tigris and Euphrates, meet, is also being affected by climate-induced displacement.
According to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM), cited by the NRC, 130,000 Iraqis have been displaced as a result of the climate change adverse effects.
The international migration organization also surveyed some of the areas in the south that had not been assessed before, NRC noted, attributing the rise in figures – a rise from 80,000 climate IDPs in August – partially to new data entries.
Two-thirds of the displacement in the south has taken place in urban centers, the report found.
The new displacement comes as 1.2 million Iraqis are still displaced in the country, which hosts 300,000 Syrian refugees, mostly housed in the Kurdistan Region.
Iraqi federal authorities in a bid "to end displacement dossier", have shut down numerous camps under its control, forcing the displaced population to go back to their places of origin, which still suffer from instability, lack of employment prospects, and reconstruction efforts.
"The pure physical movements are not solutions in and of themselves," the report read, adding "Self-reliance and durable solutions can only be achieved when a displaced person has been able to reintegrate into society and achieve physical, material, and legal safety, as well as social cohesion."
Iraq has been categorized by the United Nations as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to the effects of climate change.
Decreased water levels and rising temperatures are two of the most immediate impacts of climate change in the country.
“Iraq’s climate is changing faster than people can adapt,” the NRC has observed.
Climate change in Iraq is hindering economic recovery in conflict-affected communities, warns latest report by @NRC_Norway. As #COP28 gets underway, urgent action is needed to mitigate risk of secondary displacement.
— NRC MiddleEast (@NRC_MiddleEast) November 26, 2023
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