Major offensives to push back armed groups have yielded notable military success in Falluja and surrounding areas; in Anbar Governorate in June and in the western bank of Shirqat and some other areas in Salah al-Din Governorate in September onwards. Simultaneously, many IDP returns were monitored during 2016 to recaptured areas in Anbar, Salah al-Din and Diyala governorates, where the continued volatility of the conflict and the enormous challenges relating to stabilization and reconstruction tempered the scale of sustainable return.
The launch of the military offensive to retake Mosul in October generated significant new displacement. The majority of those fleeing the city ended up in displacement within Ninewa and Salah al-Din governorates, or in the KR-I. Those who sought to move further afield to seek security in Baghdad faced access difficulties, as Government policy favoured encampment of newly displaced or for them to remain in proximity of the areas of origin.
By the end of December 2016, military operations to re-take Mosul had resulted in the new displacement of some 121,000 people. In the KR-I the longstanding economic crisis has negatively impacted the capacity of the authorities to respond to the new displacement.
UNHCR continued to support the Kurdish Regional Government for the management of more than 30 IDP camps, hosting some 350,000 IDPs across the three governorates. In addition, UNHCR engaged in repair and maintenance activities. Camp infrastructure and CCCM interventions were further scaled up in preparation for, and respond to, continuing displacements from Ninewa Governorate.
Most IDPs relied on food assistance from the Government of Iraq through the Public Distribution System. However, rations were invariably delayed and incomplete, creating food insecurity and forcing reliance on a variety of other sources, including negative coping mechanisms. Likewise, access to specialized medical care and medicines was limited for people with specific needs, and many. As part of the Humanitarian Response Plan, and as the lead agency for the protection, CCCM, and the shelter/NFI cluster, UNHCR continued to support the provision of protection services and basic assistance to IDPs. UNHCR and partners provided support for registration of IDPs; provision of individual legal assistance, including on lost or expired documentation and detention; access to psychosocial counselling and other specialized services; child protection; identification of vulnerable cases and referral for assistance; communication with IDPs and affected communities through an information call centre for IDPs; training and awareness of authorities and civil society on protection issues and human rights.
Assistance in the form of regular and seasonal CRIs, as well as multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) were distributed to IDPs living in camps and outside of camps, targeted on the basis of need and vulnerability criteria. The prepositioning of CRIs allowed each newly displaced family to have their immediate basic needs met. UNHCR has undertaken to strengthen cash-based interventions by increasing coordination efforts with partners and harmonizing various cash assistance programmes (including through the Cash Working Group led by UNHCR), and improving the identification of beneficiaries through the protection monitoring tool.