The population figures for internally displaced people (IDPs) fluctuated throughout the year with the largest peak during the offensive to retake west Mosul from February to July 2017. According to the DTM, as of the end of 2017 some 50 per cent of the IDPs were living in private settings including rented accommodation and host families; 11 per cent in critical shelters such as unfinished buildings, informal settlements, mosques and school buildings; 26 per cent in camps; and the remaining in other living arrangements. Central governorates were hosting the most IDPs in camps, with some 330,500 IDPs in camps in Ninewa, 71,730 IDPs in Anbar, 34,920 IDPs in Kirkuk, 17,940 IDPs in Salah al-Din, and 9,170 IDPs in Baghdad; while camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq hosted 194,240 IDPs. UNHCR also monitored spontaneous and organised returns of 10,980 Iraqi refugees previously hosted in Syria and Turkey through the Ibrahim Khalil border point. In addition, 622 Iraqis returned from Syria through Peshkhabour border point.
Large numbers of IDPs living out of camps are residing in informal settlements and sub-standard public and private buildings, without formal lease agreements, and as a result are at a heightened risk of eviction, with few avenues for redress. In several instances, authorities at the governorate level have been instituting policies and practices compelling families to leave their areas of displacement. These include forced evictions, confiscation of identity documents, arbitrary detention, home demolitions, denial of access to services including access to education, and threats of loss of public employment or salaries. In many cases, UNHCR and partners’ continued advocacy resulted in halting practices of forced eviction and other serious protection concerns impacting population across the country.
The needs of Syrian refugees in the KR-I, particularly those living in urban, peri-urban and rural areas increased due to the persistently poor socioeconomic situation and reduced livelihood opportunities. This decline in self-reliance resulted in an increase in the number of refugees seeking relocation to camps, whose absorption capacity is limited. UNHCR monitored border crossing movements along official and irregular border posts, notably in northern Ninewa. Out of a total of 57,500 Syrians who crossed into the KR-I through Peshkhabour (a 67 per cent increase compared to 2016), some 37,000 were re-admissions. UNHCR recorded the arrival of up to 18,000 new Syrian refugees in the KR-I (a 57 per cent increase - reflecting the worsening security situation in Syria), admitted under a temporary visa regime with the exception of limited cases admitted on family reunification grounds. Close to 12,200 Syrians spontaneously returned to Syria for reasons of family reunification, lack of employment and educational, out of which close to 9,900 (more than 80 per cent) were registered with UNHCR. In addition, some 13,500 Syrian individuals returned to Syria after having entered the KR-I legally with 15 and 30 day visas. UNHCR and partners counselled the returnees to confirm the voluntary nature of their return.