"We Are Afraid to Return"
News: As sectarian violence displaces thousands of families in Iraq, the makeshift refugee camps there are overflowing.
April 27, 2006
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Last August, Nawar Ismail's husband was kidnapped. But that was just the beginning of her problems.
"Two weeks ago, my father-in-law and my brother were kidnapped as well. Then [insurgents] threatened me," says the mother of four, a Shiite who at the time was living in Khan Dhary, a village on the outskirts of Baghdad. "Then my sister was killed."
Like thousands of other Shiites living in mixed Sunni-Shiite villages, Ismail has fled her home in recent weeks, afraid of the sectarian violence that has led to kidnappings and killings by insurgents. Ismail is now living in a tent camp in Chikook, a rapidly-expanding suburb on Baghdad's west side filled with newly-built cinderblock and brick houses. The refugees have lost their homes and in some cases their livelihood as farmers in their former villages.
The displaced are still arriving daily, some of them carrying letters they received from Sunni Arab insurgent groups such as the Islamic Army of Iraq. The letters variously accuse the refugees of giving aid to Shiite militias or the government security forces, and give the accused a few days to leave before, in the words of one letter, "passing God's judgment"—a clear threat.
The refugee camp has swollen since the February bombing of a Shiite holy shrine in Samarra, which triggered widespread sectarian violence across the country. "I've built 20 houses in the past two weeks, and it's been like that since what happened in Samarra," says Nabil Abdul Hassan, a home builder in Chikook. "The other builders in this neighborhood say the same. And it is like that in other neighborhoods nearby."
According to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, more than 6,600 families across Iraq have been displaced by sectarian violence since the Samarra attack. But the Red Crescent's figures may underestimate the amount of upheaval; Ismail, for instance, said she has never registered with the organization. Most of the displaced are Shiites fleeing from insurgents, although about 1,500 Sunni families have been evicted by Shiite militias.
Conditions in the refugee camp are terrible. Said Hakki, president of the Red Crescent, says that he had asked the US military for assistance in providing potable water and sanitation facilities for the camps in Chikook, but none have been forthcoming so far. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military's spokesman in Baghdad, said at a recent press conference that he was unaware of any such requests, but that the policy of the military is to help any refugees who are fleeing sectarian violence.
Hakki says the Red Crescent is preparing to assist as many as 50,000 dislocated families by building camps around the country, but so far those fleeing to Chikook have only received a box of food per family from the Iraqi government, and only 50 tents have been delivered to the site, although much more are needed. The gap in aid has been filled by the local office of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which has delivered food, gas, and other supplies, and has provided protection for the neighborhood. Such moves are increasing the prestige of Sadr's movement both with the displaced and other Iraqis.
Photo: David Enders
