UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
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It has been reported that new IDPs, as well as armed groups, are occupying properties left<br />
by residents forced to flee, especially in Baghdad. Under the new Baghdad Security Plan<br />
(Operation Imposing Law), those illegally occupying properties have to leave within two<br />
weeks or face eviction and arrest. However, at the time of writing, this order has not been<br />
implemented. 809<br />
iii. Access to Basic Services (Water, Sanitation, Health)<br />
Potable water, sufficient sanitation and health services are pressing needs for IDPs,<br />
particularly in villages and rural areas. The additional pressure placed on basic services by<br />
new IDP arrivals has resulted in serious deficiencies. The presence of IDPs in any<br />
community places an added burden on already weak and strained water and sanitation<br />
networks and health services.<br />
Many IDP families are unable to afford the cost of potable tankered water, used<br />
increasingly to supplement the shortfalls in the national pipelines. In many parts of the<br />
country, IDPs rely instead on unclean sources such as rivers and broken pipes, increasing<br />
their exposure to waterborne diseases and other health risks. UNAMI has reported that<br />
some 70 percent of the population lack access to potable water and 81 percent lack access<br />
to effective sanitation.<br />
Poor diet, overcrowded living conditions and limited access to potable water and sanitation<br />
facilities exacerbate the spread of communicable diseases and increase health risks. IDPs<br />
face limited access to health care, either because existing services are overstretched by<br />
large concentrations of IDPs or because of settlement away from urban areas where<br />
facilities either do not exist or are too far to access. Severe shortages in medical equipment,<br />
supplies and manpower, and inadequate infrastructure as a result of sustained conflict have<br />
weakened Iraq’s public health care system, disproportionately affecting IDP families, who<br />
can hardly afford alternative private treatment or the escalating cost of medicines.<br />
iv. Access to Income and Employment<br />
Income sources in Iraq are almost exclusively linked to wages or self-employment<br />
revenues. The employment situation in the country is extremely precarious. After leaving<br />
their homes, most IDPs are not able to secure work in their area of displacement. Many are<br />
unable to bring their possessions with them at the time of displacement and their savings<br />
are rapidly depleted. While during the first few months after the Samarra bombings, some<br />
IDPs were able to transfer their government positions or their retirement benefits to their<br />
governorate of displacement, they now face increasing difficulties and delays in doing so.<br />
809 Anne Garrels, Baghdad Squatters Face Deadline to Leave, NPR, 20 February 2007, http://www.npr.org/<br />
templates/story/story.php?storyId=7492225; IRIN, Iraq: New security plan could make more homeless,<br />
15 February 2007, http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70208; Marc Santora, Iraqi government<br />
announces a sweeping security campaign, International Herald Tribune, 13 February 2007,<br />
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/13/news/iraq.php.<br />
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