About 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Iraq lack basics such as drinking water, sanitation, health and education facilities and food. Yet funding for displaced people is falling.

A report [1] from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says that the most urgent needs in Iraq are food, water, shelter and employment.

Mowafaq Abdel-Raoof, spokesman for the Ministry of Displacement and Migration said: “The increase in the number of IDPs has led to chaos in trying to meet their needs. Local and international NGOs are encountering difficulties in helping displaced families for various reasons, including lack of security and funds.”

Abdel-Raoof and local NGOs urged international donors to become more committed to helping solve the growing problem of displacement in Iraq.

Baghdad resident, Abu Mustafa, 56, said “We are tired of running away. Sometimes I ask myself if it was not better to die than to live like a Bedouin all my life.”

[1] ‘Iraq Displacement 2006 Year in Review’, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Download from ReliefWeb

Related news: Iraq: corruption slows down reconstruction of basic facilities, Source Weekly, 19 Sep 2006

Web site: International Organisation for Migration in Iraq

Source: IRIN News , 30 Jan 2007

Tags: emergencies