IDPS AND ECONOMIC MIGRANTS STUCK IN SLUMS ADJACENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001803

SBU
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PGOV PREL PHUM IZ
SUBJECT: IDPS AND ECONOMIC MIGRANTS STUCK IN SLUMS ADJACENT
TO SADR CITY

Summary

1. (U) USAID/OFDA,s program advisor in Iraq conducts regular
field visits to locations of displacement and return to
assess humanitarian conditions and identify areas of possible
intervention by implementing partners. On June 24 and 25 the
program advisor met with residents of northeast Baghdad,s
Hay Ur neighborhood, a vulnerable community adjacent to Sadr
City inhabited largely by economic migrants and internally
displaced persons (IDPs). Hay Ur residents report the
unlikelihood of returning to areas of origin due to
demographic changes following sectarian violence, housing
shortages and rising rents. End summary.
Background on Hay Ur

2. (U) Thousands of IDPs and economic migrants have built
illegal, informal settlements on government property in
northeast Baghdad,s predominantly Shia Hay Ur neighborhood.
U.S. military satellite imagery taken from 2003 to 2009
illustrates that entire neighborhoods in the northernmost
parts of Hay Ur are less than six years old and growing
steadily. The settlements are straining essential services
and forcing the Government of Iraq (GoI) to choose between
recognizing sprawling illegal settlements with little
supporting infrastructure or evicting thousands of destitute
families. In several sub-neighborhoods of northern Hay Ur,
including Kufa, Sheeshan, Kubra Ghazlan and Hawasams, most
houses are constructed of cinderblock, mud and scrap metal.

3. (U) Residents report that people fleeing violence and
overcrowding in adjacent Sadr City began settling in Hay Ur
in 2003 and 2004 at a rate that has continued steadily to
date. Many of the conflict-affected IDPs currently residing
in Hay Ur fled from predominantly Sunni areas of west
Baghdad, including Abu Ghraib, Adhamiya and Ameriya. About
half of the residents who spoke to USAID/OFDA program advisor
during a walk through Mahalla 329 (mahallahs are numbered
subdivisions of neighborhoods; generally sub-neighborhoods
are made up of two or more mahallahs) were economic migrants
from Sadr City. One area in Mahalla 341 is named Hawasams,
an Arabic word unique to the Iraqi dialect meaning looted
goods. Priority needs in the area include improved access to
drinking water, income generating projects and shelter
support.
Government Reluctant to Reward Squatters with Services

4. (SBU) By illegally tapping into water and electric lines,
squatters have further degraded the already limited
infrastructure providing services to Hay Ur,s illegal
neighborhoods. U.S. forces report that the neighborhood
council and the Amanat (which is responsible for providing
essential services inside the city of Baghdad) have proven
hesitant to improve services, which authorities perceive as
increasing the likelihood of long-term settlement in the
squatted areas. Because most areas of Hay Ur, including
legal residential zones, lack sewage networks, human waste
gathers in open trenches in the street. Residents report
that local authorities do not remove waste from trenches,
leaving it to seep into the ground water. U.S. forces report
that the local government also refuses to remove trash in
illegal settlements, leading to trash heaps that attract
stray dogs and rodents. U.S. forces have responded by using
Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds to pay
military-aged Iraqi men to remove trash.

5. (SBU)) Residents told USAID/OFDA staff that although
children are allowed to register in public schools, the
schools are in a state of disrepair and run two shifts due to
overcrowding. U.S. forces report that local authorities have
Qovercrowding. U.S. forces report that local authorities have
poorly maintained CEPR-rehabilitated schools. Because there
is no hospital in the area, people with serious injuries are
transported by taxi to adjacent Sadr City. U.S. forces built
a primary health care center in Hay Ur,s Mahllah 327 and
report that the Ministry of Health has staffed the clinic.
Although the ministry pays clinic staff, staff complain that
the ministry fails to provide needed medical supplies.
According to residents, most IDPs do not receive food
rations, whereas economic migrants have generally transferred
food rations to Hay Ur or travel to areas of origin once per
month to receive rations.

6. (SBU) Residents identified jobs and improved access to
water as priority needs. U.S. forces offered to provide CERP
funding to dig a well n Mahallah 629, but the neighborhood
council could not commit to maintaining the necessary
filtration system. Local authorities are currently extending
water lines from Sadr City across Hay Ur to Shaab, which is
expected to improve access to water for some residents.

7. (U) Residents reported that eight IDP families living in
tents in Mahallah 329 recently left for unknown reasons,
although neighbors reported that the departure was not due to
forced eviction. Approximately 40 families continue to squat
in an abandoned warehouse adjacent to the Joint Security
Station, which will remain open for the immediate future.
Illegal Property Market Largely Non-Confrontational

8. (SBU) Residents reported that the process of illegally
acquiring land in the area is generally non-confrontational

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and that money does not typically change hands for empty
plots of land. For security reasons, many residents said
they would only allow friends, family or acquaintances to
move onto adjacent land. Like many illegal neighborhoods in
Baghdad, several structures bore &for sale8 signs,
indicating a thriving illegal property market. (Comment: In
previous years and even now in some parts of Baghdad,
squatters are unable to build on vacant government property
without paying off a local militia leader or other community
figure. Squatters who attempt to build without paying bribes
in such areas are likely to be confronted with violence. End
comment.)
New Residents Arrive Steadily, Current Residents Unlikely to
Leave Voluntarily

9. (U) Residents reported that squatters continue to build
illegal houses in the area, and USAID/OFDA staff witnessed
dozens of makeshift houses in various states of construction.
A local merchant selling building materials told USAID/OFDA
staff that business has slowed slightly due to concerns that
GoI authorities will evict squatters from the area, but that
generally arrivals to the area continue apace.

10. (U) IDPs reported that they are unlikely to return to
areas of origin due to demographic changes, security concerns
and lack of affordable housing. Economic migrants were
mostly from Sadr City and reported that they are unlikely to
return because of overcrowding and lack of services in the
area.
Comment

11. (SBU) Hay Ur,s illegal neighborhoods and similar IDP and
squatter clusters throughout the country leave the GoI with
two potential courses of action. The first involves the
eviction of poor squatters who in many cases have nowhere
else to go in order to regain de facto control of the
government land. The second is to allow squatters to remain
in place, which would provide tacit approval of illegal
seizures of public property. After a brief flurry of
evictions in late 2008 and early 2009, the GoI declared a
one-year moratorium on evictions from government property.
In isolated cases, such as Al-Batool camp in northwest
Baghdad and Al-Manathera camp in Najaf, the GoI paid IDPs and
economic migrants sums ranging from $800 to $3200 in exchange
for voluntarily leaving squatter settlements. Budget
constraints render similar payouts to other clusters
unlikely. Moreover, amid a severe housing shortage and
skyrocketing rents that average at least $900 per month for a
three bedroom house in Baghdad,s safest areas, such sums
would not provide a durable solution for those who left
squatter settlements voluntarily.

12. (U) Comment continued: Following field visits, USAID/OFDA
staff share findings on priority needs and possible
interventions with the Ministry of Displacement and Migration
and USAID/OFDA implementing partners with programs in the
area. Implementing partners respond depending on available
funds and how proposed interventions fit with ongoing and
planned activities. End comment.
HILL