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Thousands of Iraqi IDPs return home after KICRI -- IOM

GENEVA, Feb 20 (KUNA) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday that thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq continue to return to their hometowns since the end of Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq (KICRI), held between February 12 and 14 in Kuwait.
According to IOM's latest Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) report, as of 31 January 2018, over 3.3 million Iraqis have returned to their areas of origin, while nearly 2.5 million people continue to live in displacement.
New IOM figures show that return movements are ongoing, indicating that, in January, another 125,000 returnees were identified mainly to the four governorates of Nineveh, Salah Al-Din, Kirkuk, and Anbar.
Since the start of the crisis in early 2014, with the so-called Islamic State (IS) later holding large parts of central Iraq and the subsequent conflict to retake these areas, nearly six million Iraqis have been displaced, IOM said, adding their communities have suffered widespread devastation and damage.
In January 2018, for the first time in over three years, there were more returnees than internally displaced people. In the last three years, Anbar Governorate has received the largest number of returnees in the country, due to improved security, rehabilitation of services and rebuilding of infrastructures.
In January 2018, the three governorates reporting the biggest decreases in IDP numbers were Nineveh (six percent), Baghdad (12 percent), and Anbar (17 percent). Together, they account for almost two-thirds of the nationwide decrease of IDPs, which is over 145,000.
Of the remaining 2.47 million IDPs in Iraq, only half (51 percent) are reportedly housed in private settings, while more than a quarter (26 percent) still live in camps.
Though Nineveh Governorate accounts for two-thirds (nearly 84,000) of the new returnees identified in January, IOM noted, adding that not all returnees to Mosul city stay there.
Due to lack of security, services, and livelihood opportunities in west Mosul, approximately 600 families returned in January to Haj Ali camp.
Returnees living in critical shelters, including informal settlements and unfinished buildings, are concentrated in four governorates; Diyala (21,500 individuals), Salah Al-Din (12,400), Nineveh (7,500), and Kirkuk (800).
Iraq's urgent need for fast-track reconstruction to assist the reintegration of IDPs in their areas of origin was also discussed at the recent KICRI this past week, said IOM.
During KICRI, the UN launched a two-year Recovery and Resilience Program, in which IOM Iraq takes part, to assist the Iraqi government in addressing the multiple needs for rebuilding and reconstruction in the country, said the IOM's statement.
IOM Iraq, in partnership with the Government of Iraq, is focusing its recovery assistance on areas of return. This assistance includes mobile community information centers, light infrastructure projects, housing rehabilitation, strengthening health facilities, relief kit distribution and livelihood support.
"As Iraq enters the recovery phase after three years of conflict, we should remember that real reconstruction of the country will not only be based on rebuilding infrastructure," said IOM Iraq Chief of Mission Gerard Waite.
"Provision of specialized support to all who survived the conflict is also needed, alongside reconstruction of infrastructure," Waite added. (end) ta.ma