Iraqi security forces are forcibly returning civilians from refugee camps to unsafe areas in the predominantly Sunni Anbar Province, exposing them to death from booby traps or acts of vigilantism, refugees and aid workers say.
Managing more than 2 million Iraqis displaced by the war against the Islamic State (IS) group is one of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s most daunting tasks, but critics say he is more interested in winning elections in May than alleviating the suffering of displaced Iraqis and returning them safely home.
Authorities are sending back people against their will to ensure that the election takes place on time, refugees and aid workers say. People must be in their area of origin to vote and if they do not get home, this could delay the election.
Photo: Reuters
Abadi is riding a wave of popularity after defeating IS in Iraq and is anxious the election should not be held up.
His strategy is not without its hazards. Abadi risks alienating Sunni voters if displaced Sunnis are seen to be suffering from being sent home to dangerous areas.
Abadi is seeking a second term in which he plans to fight corruption and maintain national unity in the face of Kurdish separatism. He will need all the votes he can muster to face down a challenge from candidates linked to Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
Interviews with aid workers and dozens of displaced people at camps in the town of Amriyat al-Falluja, as well as with several families who were returned to other areas, reveal that many were forced to go home and several suffered death or injury.
Aid workers said military trucks arrive at camps unannounced and commanders read out lists of people, who have one hour to pack their belongings and go.
The aid workers, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, estimated that between 2,400 and 5,000 people were forcibly returned between Nov. 21 and Tuesday last week.
“These returns are not safe,” one aid worker said. “Even those who don’t openly resist really have no other choice. They cannot really say no to a bunch of people with guns.”
An Iraqi military spokesman said the claim that the military forced displaced civilians to return against their will was an exaggeration.
“Our primary concern is the safety of our citizens, our job is to protect people,” Iraqi Joint Operations Command spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said.
However, “citizens have to go home” now that IS had been defeated, he added.
Some aid workers said local military commanders told them the orders came from Abadi’s office, which did not respond to requests for comment.
On Nov. 25 last year, security forces arrived at a camp in Amriyat al-Falluja and told Saleh Ahmed, 37, and his family to return to their home town of Betaya, his father, Mahdi Ahmed, said.
They refused, because contacts at home told them the area was filled with booby traps left by retreating IS fighters and their houses had been destroyed.
A local commander assured them the area was safe, saying it was “better to go live in a tent in your hometown than live in a tent in the camp.”
Saleh reluctantly took his wife and some of his children and got on the truck. Mahdi Ahmed, 72, remained at the camp with his sick wife, another son and some of Saleh’s children as their names were not on the list.
“They gave him a tent. He went back to our destroyed house and tried to pitch it in our yard,” Mahdi Ahmed said.
An explosive went off. Saleh’s wife was killed instantly and his daughter sustained full body burns. Saleh lost one eye and was seriously injured in the other, said one of his sons, who witnessed the incident.
The Ahmeds’ case is not unique. Abdallah, 17, said his family was forced to return to the town of Jweibeh on Nov. 26.
A week later, masked men arrived at the family home at 2am demanding to speak to the father. When he refused to open the door, they burst in and started shooting. Abdallah’s father suffered leg injuries and his mother lost a finger.
The family do not know what the men wanted.
For many it is not economically viable to leave the camps, where they can set up barber shops or fruit stands at makeshift markets, making about US$50 a month.
That sum would not be possible back home where jobs, basic services and schools are nonexistent.
“I can’t afford to return,” camp resident Alaa Hussein said.
Five camp residents separately said they were forced to leave, but had to turn back, because checkpoints manned by Iranian-backed Shiite militias were demanding bribes of up to US$400 to let people through.
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