IOM's latest report on the needs of returned displaced Iraqis says
that going back home is presenting returnees with a new set of
challenges that are almost as daunting as those when they were
displaced.

Of the more than 58,000 returnee families (348,660 people)
identified by IOM, the Organization has so far carried out in-depth
assessments of just over 4,000 (nearly 25,000 people).

The assessment report found that food, non-food items and fuel
are the priority needs, with the latter increasingly important as
winter hits.

Employment too is a major concern with 34 per cent of the
IOM-assessed families reporting that although they are able to
work, they are unable to find it. Female-headed households,
representing 12 per cent of assessed families, are among the most
vulnerable groups, with 70 per cent of them unable to work and 26
per cent able to work but again, unable to find employment.

Basic needs such as shelter, water, electricity and health care
also pose serious concerns with 34 per cent of returnee families
going back to homes that were partially or completely destroyed.
Without employment or a reliable source of income, these families
are in dire need of assistance to help them rebuild their
homes.

Those that have shelter or homes, also face problems in access
to potable water, fuel, electricity and health care. Seventy-five
per cent of returnees have less than six hours of electricity a day
while more than half of all returnees in Baghdad and 86 per cent in
Kirkuk report not having access to health care.

Nearly 60 per cent of the identified 58,000 returns have been to
Baghdad governorate, though significant numbers of returnees have
also been located in Diyala and Anbar governorates. The vast
majority, 94 per cent, of all returnees were internally displaced,
with only 6 per cent identified as Iraqi refugees coming back from
abroad.

Government efforts to encourage and support returns through the
provision of a one-time grant of USD 840 have only been partly
successful. Of the IOM-assessed returnee families, only 44 per cent
had applied for the grant with only 39 per cent actually receiving
it. The vast majority of all the assessed families said they had
received no other individual assistance.

Although the numbers of people returning home have been slowly
increasing, they represent just a fraction of those that continue
to be displaced, nearly four years since the bombing of the Samarra
mosque. Nevertheless, IOM has found that of the nearly 230,000
displaced families assessed by IOM in Iraq, more than half have
stated their intention to return to their former homes if return
conditions, particularly security, continue to improve.

In a bid to help improve the lot of returning displaced families
and to find long-term solutions for them, IOM has this year
provided in-kind grants to 500 families to help them start their
own businesses and to re-establish employment and income for them.
Over the next 12 months, the Organization will target an additional
6,500 returnee families across the country for similar assistance.
IOM is seeking further funding to assist more unemployed returnees
to build a new business or to find a new job in an effort to find
durable solutions to the displacement crisis in the country.

The Iraqi government has also established a Return Committee to
help returnees rebuild effectively by intensifying coordination of
UN agencies working in the country, each with their own specific
expertise.

To access the report, please go to: "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.iom-iraq.net/library.html#IDP" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.iom-iraq.net/library.html#IDP.

For further information, please contact:

Rex Alamban

IOM Iraq

Tel: +962-79-906-1779

Email:  "mailto:ralamban@iom.int">ralamban@iom.int