Iraq -  IOM was forced to suspend its distribution of emergency relief supplies in Anbar province last week (23/1) due to heavy fighting and air strikes in almost all districts of Fallujah. Distributions resumed the following day (24/1).

“The situation in Anbar remains volatile and all indications point to a continuing decline in security. This continues to complicate the aid response, as roads are frequently blocked, and some bridges have collapsed as a result of clashes between Iraqi security forces and armed opposition groups, air strikes and acts of terrorism,” said IOM Iraq Rapid Assessment and Response Team (RART) Officer Nicholas Hill.

“The IOM RART in Anbar took advantage of a temporary lull in the fighting to restart the distributions on Friday (24/1),” he added.

Since last December, when clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces, Islamist militants and sectarian factions, at least 140,000 people have been displaced in Anbar and more continue to flee. These new displaced people (IDPs) are a new addition to 1.3 million individuals already displaced in Iraq.

The new IDPs have dispersed throughout Anbar and into neighbouring Salah Al-Din, Kerbala, Baghdad and Najaf provinces. Local authorities in Erbil province in the semi-autonomous Kurdish north of the country have also confirmed the registration of 3,700 displaced people. Some 2,500 are thought to have stayed in the province, but others are believed to have moved on after registering.

IOM is now rapidly assessing displacement locations in Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah to identify the numbers, location, movements and vulnerabilities of displaced families from Anbar to the Kurdish region.

IOM has supplied 288 tents to the Bahira transit camp in Erbil, which has been rehabilitated to accommodate new IDPs. A decision has yet been made as to whether this camp will be formally opened, but as displacement become more protracted, it is becoming increasingly likely.

IOM has, to this point, distributed 250 non food relief kits in Anbar’s Al-Karma district and 280 in Fallujah, reaching a total of 8,130 people. IOM staff in Fallujah say that there is an urgent need for tents and non food relief items in the district.

IOM is also partnering with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute food. As of 26^th January, the IOM Iraq had distributed a total of 3,750 WFP food parcels to vulnerable displaced families across Anbar, including 650 in Fallujah district, 500 in Al-Karma district, and 1,000 in Saqlawiyah district, where some of the heaviest fighting has taken place.

IOM has also delivered supplementary medicines and medical supplies to Fallujah Hospital, on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), adding to three medical kits delivered on the 13^th January. Each of these kits contains sufficient supplies to perform 200 major surgical procedures.

IOM is also working with UNFPA to distribute reproductive health clinical kits, women’s dignity kits, and individual clean delivery kits for displaced pregnant women.

For more information please contact

Nicholas Hill
IOM Iraq
Email: nhill@iom.int
Tel.: +962 7 9894 6886