Iraq

Year-end Overview

Working environment

In Iraq, security conditions and law and order improved but the continued presence of extremist elements conducting asymmetric attacks continues to pose challenges. In late 2019, sustained demonstrations in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq erupted and further disrupted access for humanitarian interventions. However, the impact on longer-term programming remains to be seen. Prior to this, Iraq was in a phase more conducive to returns and humanitarian access, transitioning gradually from an emergency response to a longer-term development approach.
 
Protection risks for displaced populations remain acute, with many IDP and returnee families suffering from disproportionate restrictions on access to safety and freedom of movement, confiscation of documents, forced encampment, detention, forced evictions and increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence. The Government policy of camp consolidation and closure has resulted in forced returns and evictions, leading to secondary displacement.
 
Following the beginning of Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring in north-east Syria in October 2019, Iraq received an influx of Syrian refugees (15,000 by mid-November). The number of new arrivals is expected to continue over the next six months at a slow but steady pace. No major changes in other refugee and asylum-seeker populations is expected, given limited opportunities for durable solutions. For IDPs, with a majority of those in camps in 2019 expected to have returned, and with the significant challenges in identifying solutions, no significant returns are expected in 2020, with some 1.1 million IDPs remaining displaced.
 
In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Syrian refugees can access territory; basic services, including health and education; and documentation. The result is a generally favourable protection environment. UNHCR supports collaboration between the Government of Iraq (GoI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities on registration of refugees and asylum-seekers, which will regularize their presence in Iraq, protect them from refoulement and improve access to services. Negotiations for the Permanent Committee of the Ministry of Interior (PC-MoI) to begin the registration of Syrian refugees in the KR-I are ongoing.
 
In 2020, UNHCR will continue its partnership with the governmental authorities, NGOs and UN organizations. By enhancing its collaboration with development actors, it will ensure the systematic inclusion of people of concern into national development plans and development-oriented programmes. UNHCR will strengthen its partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, and with the World Bank, UN-HABITAT, ILO and UNDP. UNHCR will continue to lead and coordinate the national-level Protection, Camp Coordination and Camp Management, Shelter and Non-food Item clusters for the IDP response, as well as the inter-agency response for Syrian refugees, in coordination with the authorities, through the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP). 

Key priorities

In 2020, UNHCR will focus on:

• Adopting an area-based approach to develop community projects that support social cohesion and help remove obstacles to return or to other solutions for IDPs.
• Providing legal assistance to IDP and returnee populations in the form of legal counseling, representation and awareness-raising, particularly for civil documentation and detention.
• Advocating a new Refugee Law to develop national asylum legislation in line with international standards, establishing an effective asylum system and a framework for solutions for refugees.
• Strengthening refugee registration and case management capacity, with UNHCR assuming direct responsibility for refugee registration country-wide to ensure all refugees and asylum-seekers are effectively documented.
• Mainstreaming sexual and gender-based violence prevention and risk mitigation and working to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse as well as response efforts, through capacity development, awareness-raising and co-leadership of the Iraq Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Network.