Despite improvements in the overall security situation, sustained
humanitarian assistance and protection is required for an
overwhelming majority of Iraq's internally displaced persons (IDPs)
and a growing number of families who are returning to their
governorate of origin, says IOM's latest displacement and return
report published today.

The report, based on in-depth nationwide interviews carried out
since February 2006 by IOM staff among more than 1.3 million IDPs,
highlights the fact that most families continue to live in
precarious conditions, occupying land or property illegally, with
little or no access to regular humanitarian assistance and to basic
commodities.

Furthermore, the report notes that many families return to
destroyed homes and infrastructures, with some needing assistance
to repossess their occupied properties.

The report adds that the growing flow of returnees is adding
pressure on already fragile public infrastructures. In the district
of Baghdad, which has witnessed most of the returns so far,
educational facilities are stretched to the limit, with up to 94
children crammed in one classroom in schools where 1,500 pupils
share four toilets.

In some governorates, such as Salah al-Din, a lack of school
facilities means that children are forced to work to support their
families. In the three northern governorates, the report notes that
Arab displaced families continue to be affected by a lack of
Arabic-language schools.

The report says that improved security and increased
humanitarian access have simply revealed more pressing needs. For
instance, in Kirkuk's Daquq district, assessments carried out by
IOM monitors have found substantial groups of IDPs with chronic
health problems exacerbated by lack of access to adequate food,
healthcare, water and sanitation facilities. 

In the south-western governorate of Najaf, several districts
suffer from a total lack of facilities, with raw sewage swamping
streets and affecting impoverished
communities.   

In many parts of the country, medical infrastructures remain
understaffed and undersupplied.  In the southern governorate
of Basra, IOM continues to provide basic medical supplies to
hospitals, as well as essential aid to particularly vulnerable
displaced, host or returning families. 

According to the report, displaced and returning families are in
dire need of employment opportunities and many continue to suffer
from conflict-driven displacement stress.

There are an estimated number 2.8 million IDPs in Iraq, of which
1.6 million have been displaced since February 2006 when the
bombing of the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra triggered a new upsurge
in violence. More than 1.5 million additional Iraqis are refugees,
living predominantly in  neighbouring countries. 

Returnee reports, along with IOM's regular reporting on
displacement, including governorate profiles, biweekly updates,
tent camp updates, and yearly and mid-year reviews, are available
at "http://www.iomiraq.net/iomdmyear.html" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.iomiraq.net/iomdmyear.html.

For more information, please contact:

Rafiq Tschannen

IOM Iraq

Tel: +962 79 516 2285

E-mail: "mailto:rtschannen@iom.int">rtschannen@iom.int