“Many are weak and tired because they have walked for long hours without food and water before reaching the security forces,” said Dr. Basheer. “We assess the health of new arrivals, many have acute dehydration and may easily faint due to hypotension.”
Abo Ali, a young man from Hawija said, “I was a student in the College of Education. I left college soon after ISIL came to Hawija in order to support my family; I worked as a shepherd and farmer. During that time ISIL set many restrictions, residents could not go out, even in our own areas.”
“The shelling started one month ago. My mother insisted that my wife, cousin and I leave the area, but she had to stay behind with my brother because she can’t walk well. We left our village at night and walked for five hours from Tal Al-Wared towards the security forces. I hope our areas will be retaken soon so we can go back. I am so worried about my mother; I haven’t been able to reach her for several days,” said Abo Ali.
A total of 1,000 tent plots have been prepared at Haj Ali emergency site for IDP families expected to flee from Hawija operations. A total of 750 non-food item kits have been prepositioned, provided by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).
According to IOM Iraq Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), the displacement of 2,400 individuals from Hawija and Shirqat within the last few days is in addition to more than 102,700 individuals who displaced from Hawija district between early August 2016 and 21 September 2017. Together most of these IDPs have displaced to Salah al-Din governorate (over 52,600), Kirkuk governorate (over 44,300), Ninewa governorate (5,600) and Erbil governorate (2,200).
(Source: IOM)
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