708

UPDATE 30 June—6 July

HIGHLIGHTS: The continued grave risks for civilians trapped in Mosul’s Old City as the battle reportedly reaches the final stages. IDPs from Tel Afar con-

tinue to face restrictions accessing safety. Ongoing risks of explosive hazards in return areas were underscored this week by the death of 3 children in

Khorsebad, northeast of Mosul. Incidents of collective punishment are continuing and expanding.

1.5 million people xp be imp ed Mosul and surrounding areas

people u displaced (IOM DTM)

FIGURES:

21,224

Affected Population*

assessed

212,832* to their of origin from the beginning of the Mosul

to

50,431 51,886 42,033 36,818

90% of families with no income

1,051 unaccompanied or separated children

22% of families missing civil documentation

4,688 families referred for cash assistance

*IOM DTM, 6 July 2017 **Protection monitoring information includes data from the broader Mosul Corridor covering Erbil, Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Kirkuk Governorates since March 2016

For more information contact: Precillar Moyo moyop@unhcr.org

1,688

794,950

17,592

6,396

630

198

Ninewa 95.51%

Baghdad 2.14%

Erbil 1.23%

Salah al-Din 0.78%

Other 0.34%

UPDATE 30 June—6 July

Displacements and access to safety

As the battle for Mosul’s Old City reaches its final stages, civilians continue to face grave risks. There are credible reports of extremist groups targeting civilians trying to flee and using trapped civilians as human shields. Those able to flee reported indiscriminate shelling, harass-ment, and threats by extremist groups, in addition to severe shortages of food and water. Dur-ing the reporting period more than 4,650 IDPs (663 families) from west Mosul reached Ham-mam Al-Alil screening site and 4,744 IDPs arrived at the Ninewa Hotel mustering point.

Since 23 June, IDPs from Tel Afar have been barred from accessing areas under the control of the Kurdish Regional Government. The Kurdish Security Forces (Peshmerga) have reportedly denied admission to civilians in Shindukha, northeast of Tel Afar. More families continue to arrive and are being redirected to the Iraq Security Forces’ front lines near Badush, west of Mosul. On July 4, it was credibly reported that 10 IDPs had died due to dehydration while walk-ing from Shindukha to Badush, a distance of nearly 30 kilometres, in the intense heat. As pro-tection actors in Dohuk do not currently have access to the Badush area, it has not been possi-ble to provide assistance or to monitor the number of IDPs from Shindukha that arrived to Badush, ortheir onward movements from Badush.

Returns monitoring

IDP returns increased during the reporting period, outnumbering displacements. Due to accu-mulated applications that were not processed during Eid, a relatively large number of families are recorded as having returned from camps after the holiday period. Over 3,000 persons re-turned from camps east and north of Mosul. UNHCR continues to monitor returns, including through interviews with over 1,900 families that returned from the eastern camps and tele-phone interviews with 250 families who have reached their destinations. Returns continue to be mainly to neighbourhoods in east Mosul, but also increasingly to west Mosul neighbour-hoods such as Islah Zrhai, Al huraybi and Mosul Jadida). The conditions and restrictions in camps remain significant push factors, now exacerbated by the extreme summer heat, which is especially affecting children, the elderly, and the vulnerable. During the reporting period, about 8,000 individuals were able to access Naser Bridge to cross from east Mosul into west Mosul to check on their property. The bridge was closed following security threats but was reopened on 30 June.

Follow-up monitoring indicates that about 30 per cent of the assessed returnee fami-lies returned to their own houses in their places of origin, which had suffered minor damage. The vast majority of families (about 70%) reported that their houses are completely destroyed in west Mosul and therefore they moved to neighbourhoods in east Mosul to stay with relatives or rent houses, with many having to share houses due to high rents. Job opportunities are lim-ited in return areas, most of those working are small business owners, as well as some civil servants who have resumed their employment activities. While schools have re-opened (though currently closed for school holidays), many schools and other public buildings are damaged or destroyed.

Explosive hazards in return areas

As noted, the living conditions and movement restrictions in camps are significant push factors leading to rapid premature returns after areas of origin are retaken from extremist groups. These rapid returns include movement to areas not properly cleared of explosive hazards, and pose severe security risks. During the reporting period, three children between 10-12 years of

For more information contact: Precillar Moyo moyop@unhcr.org

age, who had recently returned to a remote area between Khorsebad and Barima, northeast of Mosul, were killed reportedly while playing with an explosive remnant of war. The area between Barima and Khorsebad is known to be heavily contaminated war remnants, though Khorsebad town and parts of Barima have been cleared. Khorsebad has received significant number of re-turnees and extensive mine risk education (MRE) had been conducted in the area by Mine Action Group (MAG).

Many retaken areas remain heavily contaminated and further demining efforts will be needed. With the ongoing population movement, recurrent MRE should continue to complement these efforts. Authorities should ensure that returnees have timely and appropriate information on mine risks prior to and after returning to areas of origin. A meeting between the UNHCR-led Protection Working Group (PWG), OCHA and mine action actors is planned for the coming week to address existing gaps related to remnants of war and other explosive hazards.

Interventions to facilitate issuance of birth certificates

UNHCR successfully advocated with the Kurdish Security Service (Asayish) to allow women who give birth in camps east of Mosul to exit the camps with their new-born babies to obtain birth cer-tificates from the Erbil Maternity Hospital. Asayish will receive referrals from UNHCR’s protection partner, and the new mothers will be able to travel to Erbil Maternity Hospital with their babies, as a group, once a week. In the meantime, UNHCR’s legal partners continue to provide legal assis-tance for IDPs in camps and non-camp locations including on civil documentation issues. Since the beginning of the Mosul crisis, 13,093 household level assessments have been conducted in Erbil reaching 63,881 individuals, while UNHCR and partners have referred over 15,964 individu-als to specialized service providers. Similar protection interventions are also undertaken in the north (Duhok) and south (southern Ninewa and Salah al-Din) of Mosul.

Collective punishment

Incidents of collective punishment are an ongoing and growing problem. On or about 4 July, it was credibly reported that the intelligence services had asked the Mukhtars of villages in Shirqat, in Salah al-Din Governorate, to share copies of identification documents for all IDPs in the area despite their prior security clearance, ostensibly to cross-check for wanted persons. There is con-cern that this will lead to detention of IDPs for perceived affiliations with extremist groups. The eviction notices in Qayyarah, south of Mosul, against families perceived to be affiliated with ex-tremist groups are anticipated to lead to more displacements and incidents of retribution or re-venge attacks as the authorities appear unwilling or unable to intervene to protect the targeted families. In Nargizlia camp, northeast of Mosul, there were further incidents of barred access to 26 persons from three families. Credible sources indicated that the denial of access resulted from suspicion that some of those families’ members were affiliated with extremist groups. The issue has been raised with the PWG. UNHCR will continue to monitor the situation and follow-up with relevant actors, as appropriate.

In a positive development, following interventions by UNHCR and its protection partner, 13 re-turnees from Al-Ishaqi in Salah al-Din were released by Salah al-Din Operation Command. They were detained a month ago on suspicion of being affiliated with extremist groups but without due process. A tribal leader from Al-Ishaqi sponsored them, as required by Salah al-Din Operation Command.