Geneva - Thousands of displaced Iraqis returning home often
faced a 'grim' situation as they attempted to pick up their lives
again, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said
Friday.
The first survey of returnees in Iraq carried out by the IOM with
Iraq's Ministry for Displacement and Migration assessed more than
5,000 people out of 78,200 returnees.
IOM's chief of mission for Iraq Rafiq Tschannen said: 'The
situation for those returning is grim and isn't necessarily an
improvement from when they were displaced. Many returnees are
unemployed while only a fraction have received any form of
humanitarian assistance other than some food rations.'
The number of people returning home represented a tiny fraction,
less than 1 per cent, of the estimated 5 million Iraqis who had been
displaced internally and abroad.
Less than a fifth of all returnees had travelled back from abroad.
Priority needs among those assessed were food, fuel, non-food
items such as furniture and electricity, and access to health care
and medications.
Two thirds of returnees were to Baghdad with March 2007 the peak
month. Lack of access to health care in this region was the worst in
the country.
There were also more disputes here over home ownership after
houses had been occupied by other families.
Future large scale returns would require a policy framework for
handling property claims to prevent renewed tensions, IOM said.
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