UNHCR warns of Funding Crunch as Thousands Flee Falluja

As well as Falluja, UNHCR is responding to the displacement over the past three months of over 20,000 people from Mosul and surrounding districts due to renewed offensives there.

In the past few days, close to 3,000 people arrived in the already crowded Debaga camp in Erbil Governorate, pushing the population there and in a nearby stadium to 10,000. The new arrivals are staying in a severely overcrowded reception centre, now seven times above its capacity.

“There are few latrines, and drinking water is in short supply. It is estimated that more than a million people still live in Mosul and any large offensive against the city could result in the displacement of up to 600,000 more people,” Rummery said.

In all, there are more than 3.3 million people internally displaced in Iraq who have fled their homes since January 2014, on top of a million more people still displaced since the sectarian conflicts of the mid-2000s.

A further 230,000 Iraqi refugees have sought refuge in other countries in the region. Of these refugees, some 6,700 Iraqis from in and around Mosul have taken the extraordinary step of fleeing into Al-Hasakeh Governorate, in the north-east of war-torn Syria.

(Source: UNHCR)