Iraq - IOM Iraq today (08/11) reports its displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Emergency Tracking identified 34,860 displaced Iraqis from Mosul and adjacent districts – up from 34,038 reported Monday – since military operations to retake Mosul began on 17 October, with significant population movements seen this past weekend.

Yesterday (07/11) approximately 107 families from Mosul’s Al-Muhalabiya sub-district (Addayah village) were displaced to Haj Ali village, where they are currently being hosted in school buildings.

Over the weekend (5-6/11), IOM Director General William Lacy Swing completed a two-day visit to the conflict zone, where he inspected two emergency sites being established by IOM Iraq at Qayara Airstrip and Haj Ali, both in Ninewa governorate, south of Mosul.

“These emergency sites – which are moving very fast – will not only provide housing for displaced people. They will also help the local community by providing employment opportunities to build the site and health services,” said Ambassador Swing.

DG Swing also met with IOM staff at the Debaga IDP camp in Makhmour district, where IOM and the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) are operating in close collaboration with the Erbil and Ninewa Directorates of Health, the Health Cluster in Iraq and the Barzani Charity Foundation, which is managing the camp. Donors include the governments of Japan and Canada.

“My whole family is still in Mosul, but I’ve been living in Debaga camp for seven months. You can see how many people are here waiting to be seen by a doctor – it really helps us a lot to have a clinic here,” said Hassan, a 24-year-old displaced from Mosul.

Since early June IOM health teams in Debaga have provided over 42,000 health consultations. The most common health problems encountered include upper respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, diarrhoea, skin diseases, hypertension and diabetes.

The clinic now operates around the clock 24/7 and over 700 patients needing specialized care have been transferred to hospitals in Kirkuk and Erbil, many by ambulance.

The population of Debaga camp has increased in recent months to over 32,000. After fleeing their homes, many of the displaced have walked for days. After living in ISIL-occupied areas with very limited access to health services, they have a wide range of medical needs. An IOM health team is conducting health screening of new arrivals and providing rapid health response in transitional zones.

“Emergency health services are essential for displaced Iraqis; many have undertaken very demanding journeys to arrive in safe areas and have immediate health needs,” said IOM Iraq Chief of Mission Thomas Lothar Weiss. “They continue to face further health challenges while displaced and living in difficult conditions in the camps.”

IOM has greatly expanded its emergency health programme in Iraq in response to growing numbers of displaced, including dealing with a recent increased incidence of a skin infection called leishmaniasis, spread by sand flies.

Dr. Nedal Odeh, head of IOM Iraq’s emergency health team, reported yesterday (07/11) that total cases of leishmaniosis registered by IOM now stand at 73 currently under medication, with 22 successfully treated. IOM reported that five new cases were diagnosed on Sunday (06/11) at the Shekhan camp near Dohuk, where IOM manages the health clinic.

IOM has 27 medical teams around Iraq composed of 280 medical staffers – doctors, nurses and community health workers and other non-medical support staff including registrars and assistants. They provide health services in three static clinics and through mobile medical teams in eight of Iraq’s 18 governorates:  Ninewa, Anbar, Salah al-Din, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Kerbala and Dohuk. Countrywide, IOM’s health teams provide over 30,000 medical consultations per month.

IOM Iraq Chief of Mission Thomas Lothar Weiss is available for interview in English, French, Spanish and German.

For further information, please contact IOM Iraq:

Joel Millman, Tel: +41 79 103 8720, Email: jmillman@iom.int or Sandra Black, Tel: +964 751 234 2550, Email: sblack@iom.int or Jennifer Sparks, Tel: +964 751 740 1642, Email: jsparks@iom.int