BAGHDAD IDP STATISTICS SHOW DISPLACEMENTS CONTINUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002737 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR IZ SUBJECT: BAGHDAD IDP STATISTICS SHOW DISPLACEMENTS CONTINUE AT TROUBLING RATES (PART 2) REF: BAGHDAD 1147 Classified By: Baghdad PRT Team Leader Phyllis Powers for reasons 1.4 ( B) and (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Government of Iraq (GoI) statistics indicate that displacements in Baghdad province continue in spite of the Baghdad Security Plan (BSP). Ongoing displacements in Baghdad are turning once mixed Sunni/Shia neighborhoods into homogenous areas in which one sect constitutes a clear majority. The first cable in this two part series examined which sects tend to flee to and from which districts and presented IDP statistics provided by the District Councils, the Provincial Council (PC) and the Ministry of Displacement and Migration Karkh and Rusafa branch offices. This cable will first describe the registration process for Baghdad IDPs to shed light on why many IDPs, particularly Sunnis, have not registered. Second, it will describe the role the Sadrists and other political parties play in registering IDPs. Third, it will present statistics from international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) tracking IDPs in Baghdad. END SUMMARY. The Cumbersome, Sectarian Process of Registering as an IDP -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) GoI interlocutors told PRToff that IDPs must follow the following steps to register their families as displaced: first, the head of the household notifies the district council in the area to which they have fled of the family,s new place of residence. The IDP will be asked to fill out a form indicating the present address, the prior address, the number of family members who have fled (along with their names and ages),whether the property from which the family fled was rented or owned, and whether any family members have been injured or killed in &terrorist8 attacks. The IDP head of household will be asked to provide a photograph, jinsiya (national identity card),ration card, and deed or lease to prove identity and demonstrate that the person is a permanent resident of a different area. ¶3. (C) Once the District Council stamps the IDP,s form, the IDP must take the form and supporting documentation (jinsiya, ration card, deeds, etc.) to the PC. The PC will study the documents and if it finds everything in order will stamp the form again. (Note: The 51-member Baghdad PC has only one Sunni member. ISCI and Sadrist supporters dominate the council, making many Sunnis reluctant to provide the council with their personal information. Accordingly, many IDPs register with the District Council in the area to which they fled, but do not complete any further registration steps. End note). ¶4. (C) Next, the IDP must take the form to either the MoDM Karkh or MoDM Rusafa branch office. (Note: Until March 2007, the only branch office was located in a predominantly Shia neighborhood in east Baghdad. Average Sunnis considered it unsafe to travel to the area, where Jaysh Al-Mehdi reportedly exerts considerable influence.) If the branch office finds everything in order it will issue the IDP an &IDP identity card8 and start the process of getting the IDP,s public distribution system (PDS) rations delivered to the new address. It will also provide both the IDP and the Ministry of Education with the necessary documentation to allow the IDP,s children to register in public school at their new location. ¶5. (U) GoI officials say the entire registration process can take several months and likely costs the IDP several hundred thousand Iraqi dinars in transportation costs for what usually are repeated visits to each office. They add that the transportation costs and time off work required to register may be prohibitive for families who have incurred substantial material losses in the process of being displaced. Sadrists Take Lead in Registering Karkh IDPs -------------- ¶6. (C) The DG of the MoDM Karkh branch office, Mohi Fayadh Essa Al-Sabahi, said that Sunni and Shia party offices bring in the majority of IDP files for processing rather than the IDPs themselves or district council representatives from the IDP,s new neighborhood. Al-Sabahi said that Office of the Martyr Sadr (OMS) representatives bring in more than half of the files his office processes, and the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) bring in perhaps another 10 percent. He added that DC members or IDPs themselves bring in the remaining 40 percent of the files for processing. ¶7. (C) Al-Sabahi said in west Baghdad many IDPs first approach a party office for help rather than the neighborhood BAGHDAD 00002737 002 OF 002 or district council. He said party offices such as OMS, IIP and Fadhila take the IDP,s file all the way through the cumbersome registration process for no fee. ¶8. (C) Al-Sabahi said that the ministry requires party offices to complete all of the same registration steps that would be required if the IDP was registering himself or herself. He said that party officials usually bring IDP files to the office in bulk rather than one by one. Why the Different Numbers Within the GoI? -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Of the three GoI entities that deal with IDP registration the District Councils have the highest numbers. (Note: This assumes that in addition to the some 53,000 IDP families registered with local councils in the city of Baghdad that there are at least 12,000 IDP families registered with the local councils in the province,s outlying areas, as there were in April 2007.) The District Council numbers are followed by the Provincial Council and then the MoDM. The likely reason for this is the District Council is the first official point of contact for registering IDPs; many IDPs only complete one or two steps of the registration process, particularly because few benefits come from being registered. ¶10. (C) Moreover, District Councils deal with relatively fewer numbers of IDPs that can easily be tracked with paper filing systems favored by Iraqis. The Provincial Council and the MoDM also use paper files before loading data into a computerized database that is only updated every few months. Files in both MoDM branch offices and at the Provincial Council are piled in haphazard stacks in corridors and under desks, where some are likely lost. Also, each MoDM branch office has less than 12 employees to deal with hundreds of IDP inquiries and registrations per day. The Provincial Council committee for migration and displacement, which also deals with hundreds of IDP registrations and inquiries daily, has two council members and three contract employees to handle the caseload. UN and NGO Numbers on Baghdad IDPs -------------- ¶11. (U) At least two international organizations and one U.N. cluster of organizations track the number of IDPs in Baghdad: the International Organization for Migration (IOM),the International Medical Corps (IMC),and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (Note: UNHCR is the lead of the UN's Cluster F, which deals with refugees and IDPs. The cluster approach is meant to bring together all UN agencies to coordinate action in particular areas. Other agencies in Cluster F include IOM, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI),the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children,s Fund, the World Food Program, the United Nations Development Program, among others. The IMC is funded by USAID and other donors. End note.) ¶12. (U) According to both the IOM and Cluster F, there were about 30,000 IDP families (or about 180,000 individuals) in Baghdad Province as of July 2007. According to the IMC, there were 31,870 IDP families in Baghdad Province as of July ¶2007. ¶13. (C) COMMENT: According to the PC and the MoDM, around 2,000 IDP families have returned to their Baghdad homes since April 2007. GoI interlocutors claim they hope IDPs will all eventually return to their homes. However, GoI interlocutors say most IDPs fled due to direct threats, general fear and deteriorating security conditions and have proven reluctant to return to areas where the security problems that prompted them to flee persist. END COMMENT. CROCKER