Many Iraqis who are being forced to flee sectarian violence in the
volatile governorates in central Iraq are heading to the relatively
stable but extremely poor governorate of Missan, where they are in
urgent need of food and water, according to a newly-released report
by IOM.  



Almost 30% of recently-displaced families interviewed in Missan
governorate said that they do not have regular access to water, a
much higher percentage than in other governorates.  Some
people rely on streams or broken water pipes as their main source
of water.



Along with access to clean water, food assistance was also
frequently requested by the displaced, as 60% report sporadic
access to the Public Distribution System food rations provided by
the Iraqi Government, and relied upon by many displaced Iraqis for
supplementary food.



In addition, 22% of recently-displaced people in Missan do not
have access to fuel because of rising fuel costs or
unavailability.  Fuel will be essential in the winter months
for cooking and heating, but some families will not be able to
obtain it.



IOM’s Missan Needs Assessment is based on interviews with
more than 2,120 families, or roughly 12,720 individuals who have
been displaced to Missan since February, when the bombing of a
mosque in Samarra set off an increase in displacement as a result
of sectarian violence.



These 2,120 recently-displaced families join many other families
who have been displaced to Missan throughout the past three
decades.



IOM identified 18,465 families displaced prior to the 2003
overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime. These families were
displaced primarily as a result of the Iraq/Iran War in the 1980s
and of the former Iraqi president’s campaign to drain the
marshlands in the 1990s.



In addition, IOM has assessed 406 families displaced since the
overthrow of the regime in 2003, and 8,796 families who have tried
to return to their homes in Missan after being displaced to other
regions of Iraq.



These families suffer the same conditions as the
recently-displaced.  In addition to requiring supplementary
food and clean drinking water, the displaced throughout Missan
suffer from a lack of employment, inadequate health care, improper
sanitation facilities, and a lack of schools.  The illiteracy
rate among the displaced is also high.



Despite the difficult conditions, few families say they wish to
return to the violence they experienced in their home
communities.



IOM’s report on Missan is one of 13 in-depth governorate
reports that have been released to identify and prioritize areas of
operation, plan emergency responses, and design long-term, durable
solutions to recent population displacements.



IOM will release a total of 15 reports for all central and
southern governorates, which can be found at "paragraph-link-underlined" href="http://www.iom-iraq.net/idp.html"
target="_blank" title="">http://www.iom-iraq.net/idp.html.

For more information, please contact

Rafiq Tschannen

IOM Iraq

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

Dana Graber

E-mail: "mailto:dgraber@iom.int" target="" title="">dgraber@iom.int