UN says Iraq must protect displaced families after closing camp

Children make up two thirds of the 1,566 residents of the camp in northern Iraq

A view of a tent for displaced Iraqis outside al-Jadaa 5 camp after it closed for refugees and displaced people, in Qayyara, Iraq, April 19, 2023. REUTERS

The UN is concerned about Iraq's plan to close a camp housing internally displaced people with alleged ties to ISIS in the country’s north, the Office of the Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Migration and Displacement shut Jadah 5 camp in the town of Qayyarah outside Mosul, which housed about 350 families.

The camp’s closure came as part of a government programme to “end the displacement file”, the ministry said in a statement, adding that all IDPs returned to their areas of origin “voluntarily”.

In its statement, the UN called on the Iraqi government to “ensure the safety and well-being” of the families after the camp’s closure.

“The humanitarian community is concerned by the impact of the closure of the camp on April 18 by the government of Iraq, without adequate notification and preparation for the IDPs and the receiving communities,” it said.

It added that it “will continue to work in close co-ordination with the Iraqi authorities to ensure the sustainable reintegration of those 1,566 former camp residents, [of] which almost two thirds are children”.

It urged the relevant authorities to ensure all IDPs “are able to return to their homes or places of habitual residence, integrate locally or relocate voluntarily to another part of the country in a safe and dignified manner".

Residents and aid workers told the Associated Press that the government and security officials informed them on Monday that they had to leave the camp by Wednesday, a few days before the beginning of the celebration of Eid Al Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan.

Iraq has long sought to close down the displacement camp, one of the last remaining in federally controlled areas, but faced resistance from aid groups concerned over the integration of vulnerable families, including many women and children, stigmatised for their perceived or real affiliation with ISIS.

Several official notices of closure had been sent to the camp over the past year and a half but were later delayed. This time, however, the closure came sooner than expected.

UN and NGO workers on Tuesday were prevented from entering the site by security forces, according to AP, citing aid workers.

Thousands of IDPs returned to their areas after declaring ISIS defeated in late 2017, but others were not able to do so, either because of destroyed properties or links to ISIS.

Authorities began a rapid push in late 2020 to close down displacement camps across the country in an effort to push forward with recovery efforts that have dragged on for years since the defeat of ISIS.

Most camps were shut, aside from those in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and one where returnees from the Al Hol camp in Syria are housed.