Former bustling cities like Ramadi, Iraq are now left in shambles and deserted due to the atrocities of war. Recently, the city of Fallujah has been liberated from ISIS control. However, 85,000 residents have been uprooted. Even within their country’s borders, many Iraqi refugees are under refugee status because of the enormous problem of internal displacement. Here are 10 facts about Iraq refugees:

1. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Syria as the country with highest Iraqi migration with 253,607 Iraqi immigrants. Closely followed by Germany with 115,041 migrants from Iraq.
2. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has received 21 percent of the funding requested for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and Iraqi Refugees. The overall appeal requested by the UNHCR is $584 million, yet they’ve only received $127.7 million despite the recent release of Fallujah.
3. Within three months about 20,000 people from Mosul and surrounding districts have been displaced largely because Mosul and the surrounding areas have been ISIS strongholds since June 2014.
4. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported allegations of summary executions, beatings of unarmed men, enforced disappearances and mutilation of corpses by Iraqi government forces and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) over the two weeks of fighting since May 23. On June 4, 2016, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi launched an investigation and announced “unspecified arrests” of the culprits and proceeded to transfer them to the judiciary system for further punishment. No information is available on the investigation since the announcement was made.
5. Since January 2014, 3.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been reported in Iraq, 85,000 IDPs from Fallujah and surrounding areas since May 2016, and 24,000 IDPs from Mosul and surrounding areas since March 2016.
6. More than 600,000 displaced children have missed an entire school year. UNICEF intends to spend 11.9 percent or $12 million of the 2016 Requirements for Iraq on child protection.
7. One of the most disheartening facts about Iraq refugees is that one in five children – 3.6 million – in Iraq are now at serious risk of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction and forced recruitment into armed groups, according to the latest report from UNICEF. This number has increased by 1.3 million in just 18 months.
8. Minority groups in Iraq have been exposed to some of the worst treatment during the war. Rudaw reports “Christian, Yezidi, Kaka’i, Turkmen, and Shabak minority groups in Iraq have been subjected to [genocide],” rape and torture amongst a plethora of other cruel treatments. Most have suffered the struggles of displacement and looting, according to the report conducted by Minority Rights Group. All minority groups have fallen greatly in numbers of population in Iraq because of the extreme violence against them as a community.
9. More than 86,000 Iraqis arrived on the shores of Greece in 2015 alone. Even though they’ve escaped the clutches of the Islamic State, living conditions in Greece have been difficult plagued with famine, illness, and harsh weather conditions.
10. The UNHCR estimates that more that 85,000 people have evacuated Fallujah since military operations began in May. Many citizens that have fled Fallujah recently are camped out in the dessert that is reaching temperatures of 115 F. With access to drinking water scarce and low immunization rates the risk of disease is becoming more prevalent.

Though the 10 facts about Iraq refugees are disheartening, triumphant work has been accomplished thus far. UNICEF has reported two million people newly displaced by conflict received Rapid Response Mechanism kits within 72 hours of the trigger for response and 131,200 children received structured, sustained resilience or psychosocial support programs.

In recent news, Mosul is the next city to be perused by the Iraqi government to release the residents of Mosul from ISIS rule. If the mission is successfully completed, it would be a severe moral and strategic loss for ISIS and a triumph for Iraq refugees wanting to return home.

– Mariana Camacho López

Photo: Pixabay