Highlights
Violence and armed conflict remain key drivers of displacement in Iraq that has forced about 3.2 million people to leave their homes since January 2014.
Humanitarian access remains tenuous in hotspot areas in Anbar governorate.
Emergency response continues to people who have fled towards the Bzeibiz bridge and Ameriyat al Falluja area in Anbar who reside in camps and informal settlements.
About 80,000 people in Haditha need food, safe water and health services.
8.6 m people in need
5.6 m targeted for assistance
3.2 m internally displaced people
2.9 m displaced people live outside camps
3.2 m affected people in host communities 0.25 m Syrian refugees
Situation Overview
In the context of continuing political reform plans and processes in Iraq, the humanitarian situation shows no sign of easing. As violence persists, millions of people are forced to live far from their homes. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has identified 3,176,946 displaced Iraqis between January 2014 and 13 August 2015. The primary reason indicated for displacement is generalized violence and armed conflict (96 per cent).
The security situation in flash point areas remains fluid. Protracted ground fighting and airstrikes continue to be reported in western Anbar governorate, mostly in Falluja and Ramadi districts. People have limited ability to leave conflict areas and reduced supplies are reaching the civilian population. While restrictions on movement continue, the insecurity has triggered displacement of thousands of people east and south-east in search of safety. However, access across the Bzeibiz bridge and safer areas on the east banks of the Euphrates remains limited, leaving many displaced people stranded on the west banks in camps and informal settlements.
Humanitarian partners continue to provide emergency response services to displaced people including daily water trucking, food assistance, shelter and household items in most affected areas where displaced people have concentrated. Health partners deployed two mobile clinics to the Bzeibiz bridge area at the outset of the crisis.
Amidst a serious funding shortfall that has suspended critical health projects, a timely injection of funding enabled health partners to prioritise scaling up response and services to the acute situation in Ameriyat al Falluja and Al Nakheeb with additional staff and expanding the operating hours to include a night shift. Health cluster partners also prioritised 15 locations with high concentration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in western Baghdad and eastern Anbar governorates and deployed 15 health caravans to these locations.
An inter-agency mission to Haditha, Haqlaniya, Barwana and al-Baghdadi in Anbar found that about 80,000 people in Haditha need food, safe water and health services. Haditha has been surrounded by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for over a year, reducing supply routes and driving up prices for basic commodities. Humanitarian partners are looking into how to support aid deliveries to the area.
On 25 August, the UN refugee agency confirmed that 454 people had crossed the border from Turkey into Erbil governorate in northern Iraq since 19 August in search of safety due to fighting in the border areas. Food parcels, hygiene kits and clothes have been provided to the refugees, who are all sheltering with host communities.
In Kirkuk governorate, a looming threat of involuntary returns has been reported as displaced people from Diyala have been asked to leave the governorate within one month. Concerns have been raised that people may be compelled to return to areas of origin that are unsafe or consider secondary displacement.