17000 DISPLACED IN IRAQ IN LAST TWO WEEKS

Baghdad, 3 Rabiul Awal 1436/25 December 2014 (MINA) – The Iraqi government’s High Level Committee for Internally Displaced People announced that 17,000 Iraqis were displaced during the second half of December, bringing the total number of displaced people to 487,000 families or nearly 2.5 million people.

Committee member Asghar Al-Moussawi told the Anadolu Agency that “the security situation has rapidly deteriorated in most areas in the north and west of Iraq since June after the Islamic State organisation took control of large areas there forcing many, especially minorities residing in the Nineveh province in the north, to escape.”

The official said, “The Iraqi federal government has been allocating financial aid through the Ministry of Displacement and Migration to displaced families registered with the ministry,” Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Wednesday.

He pointed out that “the ministry recorded the return of a limited number of families to their places of origin, but the number of displaced people is still high especially in areas experiencing the biggest battles with terrorists.”

International organisations including the International Red Cross and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have been providing assistance to internally displaced Iraqis in cooperation with local groups. However, Iraq says the amount of aid provided by the United Nations is insufficient.(T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)