IOM's bi-yearly governorate profiles provide an in-depth analysis
of the latest displacement situation and trends in each of Iraq's
18 governorates.

According to the report, the plight of the 2.8 million
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), including 1.6 million persons
who were displaced following the bombing of the Samarra Mosque in
February 2006, requires sustained attention from the international
community, even if some limited improvements have been recorded in
a number of governorates.

In Anbar, Baghdad, and Diyala, which host the highest percentage
of post-2006 IDPs, improved security has led to small numbers of
displaced returning to their areas of origin. This is especially
the case in the governorate of Baghdad, which has received the vast
majority of the small number of returnees.

Seventy-one per cent of those displaced from Baghdad reported
that their property was occupied, controlled or claimed by private
citizens, a fact that highlights the need for the Government of
Iraq to consider this issue as more and more IDPs consider
returning.

The report notes that as with displaced women and children
throughout the country, those in Anbar, Baghdad and Diyala remain
particularly vulnerable to the harsh living conditions of squatter
settlements, which offer no or little access to medical care,
education, drinking water and other basic facilities.

In Anbar Al-Ka'im district, IOM monitors reported that many
children were forced into begging and their mothers into collecting
garbage for resale in order to survive.

In comparison, living conditions for IDPs in the three southern
governorates of Basra, Muthanna and Thi-Qar are marginally better
than in the rest of Iraq, with 95 per cent of the displaced in
Basra having regular access to water and 49 per cent receiving food
assistance besides the Government Public Distribution System
(PDS).      

According to the report, 84 per cent of the displaced in the
three northern governorates of Erbil, Salaymaniyeh and Dahuk have
to pay high rents for insalubrious shelter, 65 per cent say they
cannot access or afford fuel and 76 per cent say they do not have
access to government food aid with less than 3 per cent receiving
food assistance from other sources. 

In the volatile governorates of Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah al-Din,
many IDPs continue to live in tents or in former military camps
where evictions are common. Seventy-two per cent said they had no
access to health care services and 90 per cent of the displaced in
Kirkuk were not involved in vaccination campaigns.

In Kirkuk, monitors observed particularly harsh conditions among
IDP women and children, with children often out of school,
malnourished, and barefoot with neglected personal
hygiene.  

Twenty-one per cent of the displaced in the governorates of
Kerbala, Najaf and Babylon face an unpredictable shelter situation
because they live in collective settlements, public buildings or on
public land and live with the constant threat of eviction. 
Most IDPs, however, say they have access to health care, potable
water and food assistance, even if access to school for children
remains low.

The Governorate Profile reports are available online at
class="paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.iomiraq.net/iomgovpro.html" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.iomiraq.net/iomgovpro.html.

For further information, please contact:

Dana Graber Ladek

IOM Iraq

Tel: +962 79 611 1759

E-mail: "mailto:dgraber@iom-iraq.net">dgraber@iom-iraq.net