UNHCR Opens Two New Camps

"UNHCR, the authorities and partners are working hard to ensure that the shelter needs of internally displaced Iraqis are being met and to relieve the pressure on the local community", said Bruno Geddo, the UNHCR Representative in Iraq. "While the majority of those who have been forcibly displaced would prefer to return home, a secure shelter will provide them with protection and a sense of dignity until it is safe for them to do so."

Conflict in Iraq continues unabated, causing mass internal displacement. Iraq now has the third highest population of IDPs in the world, with 3.2 million people having been displaced since January 2014, joining the ranks of approximately one million still displaced over the past decade.

In the spring of 2015, renewed fighting in Anbar displaced an estimated 250,000 Iraqis. UNHCR will continue various shelter interventions to respond to the crisis. In safe areas on the other side of the Euphrates river, UNHCR is building two more camps in Ameriyat al Falluja, to provide shelter for up to 4,200 people who have been displaced within Anbar.

Both camps have been made possible through flexible funding received by UNHCR from donors, which permits responding to needs as they emerge. Countries including the US, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Australia, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Canada have been providing UNHCR with unrestricted funding to address the urgent needs of internally displaced Iraqis.

By Natalia Micevic in Iraq

(Source: UNHCR)