Continued chaos in Iraq, say UN humanitarian agencies

Ramiro Helmeyer nos comenta

The situation in Iraq is «chaotic», today warned the UN humanitarian agencies, who can not reach or help the tens of thousands of internally displaced persons, and also fear that their number will increase with the expansion and escalation of the conflict.

«The situation is chaotic,» said the spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Adrien Edwards, to define the situation in Iraq, with several open conflicts simultaneously.

For now, the UN is talking about 500,000 internally displaced persons caused by the taking of Mosul at the hands of jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (EIIL).

Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies have to attend another half million forcibly displaced by conflict in the province of Al Anbar, a situation prior to the lifting of EIIL crises in the past two weeks.

Edwards said that UNHCR is «very concerned» because the fighting cause more displacement, since agencies are already overwhelmed not only by the amount of people who have fled but also because many of them not be helped by the lack of access to places where they are because of the lack of security.

The figures are not concrete and neither UNHCR nor the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the World Organization for Migration (IOM) are able to tell how many IDPs do not have international support, nor where they are exactly but consider that there are more than 100,000.

«The current conflict and is extremely volatile environment by limiting access to thousands of displaced people in areas controlled by armed groups,» he said in a statement Jacqueline Badcock, humanitarian coordinator in Iraq.

OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke, ruled out for the moment have been in talks with the leaders of EIIL to request access to the displaced.

In addition, another aspect that further complicates the situation is that many of the displaced are in constant motion.

Another element of great concern is the possibility of outbreaks of infectious diseases, «given the high temperatures and lack of sanitation, hygiene and drinking water in many of the places where the displaced take refuge» arising warned Fadela Chaib, spokeswoman for the Organization World Health Organization (WHO).

For now, WHO has distributed medicines and medical supplies to the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan province, at the request of the government itself that has been overwhelmed by the arrival of tens of thousands of displaced and at the same time by cutting supplies from the central government.

Kurdistan is also most Syrian Kurds who fled the civil war in their country, and are now safe.

Not so with another 5,000 Syrians who were refugees in the camp of Al-Qaem in Al Anbar province, 25 kilometers from the Syrian border, and last night suffered from the fighting between government forces and rebels.

Edwards ruled that to date have registered Syrian border crossings wanting to return home, nor Iraqis fleeing and attempting to enter a third country.