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Over 100,000 displaced in Iraq's Anbar governorate

Xinhua, April 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations on Thursday, citing figures from the Iraqi government, said that more than 100,000 people have been displaced in Anbar governorate, where pro-government forces have been engaged in intense clashes with Islamic State militants for control of Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, situated some 102 kilometers west of the capital Baghdad.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA) made the statement on the basis of a latest estimate by the Iraqi government about the people who have been displaced from Ramadi District and surrounding areas in Anbar governorate, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

"The majority of new arrivals are dispersed across multiple unidentified locations, hampering rapid response efforts by both the government and aid agencies," Dujarric said.

In Anbar governorate, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its partner have distributed relief items including blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans and plastic sheeting to more than 15,000 people.

In Baghdad governorate, food distribution continues, with the World Food Programme (WFP) having provided food to more than 76, 000 people displaced from Ramadi in Baghdad, Anbar and Diyala since the beginning of the response effort.

An estimated 2.7 million people have been displaced across Iraq since January 2014 due to ongoing violence, making it one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world. This is in addition to 250,000 Syrian refugees hosted in the country, as well as an estimated one million Iraqis displaced over the past decade.

The numbers of the displaced persons, driven by the ongoing internal conflict in Iraq, have increased dramatically since Islamic State militants overran a large swath of northern Iraq between June and August of last year.

More than 500,000 people fled last year as the extremists overran the northern city of Mosul and nearby areas. Many of those displaced were Christians, Shiite Muslims and members of the Yazidi sect, all fearing persecution at the hands of Islamic State, an extremist Sunni group.

But the exodus from Anbar, a predominantly Sunni province, shows how the conflict in Iraq has displaced civilians across sectarian lines, reports said. Endite