Iraq’s Southern Provinces Host Families Fleeing ISIL

As a result of the hardships and brutality suffered at the hands of the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL) in northern Iraq, families are fleeing in increasing numbers to the central and southern parts of the country, officials told Mawtani.

Al-Muthanna governor Ibrahim al-Mayyali told Mawtani the province has received “about 100 displaced families, most of whom came from the provinces of Ninawa, Salaheddine and Diyala”.

The families come from across the spectrum of Iraqi society — Muslims, Christians and Kurds — and have been housed in homes belonging to the state and empty schools buildings, he said.

“Many al-Muthanna residents showed their enthusiasm by opening their homes to them, providing the finest show of national unity, solidarity and fraternal co-existence,” he added.

The local government in al-Muthanna “assumed responsibility for meeting all the displaced families’ basic needs and provided them with various types of assistance”, he said.

Meanwhile, “the residents of our province presented them with donations and gifts”, he added.

The local government will start distributing the financial assistance allocated by the Ministry of Migration to displaced families as soon as it is released, he said, and has requested the Trade Ministry to provide food rations to the displaced under the ration card system.

The province is ready to receive more displaced families if necessary, he added, expressing his hope that ISIL’s aggression will end soon so all can return to their homes and peace and stability can be re-established in all Iraqi cities.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

“About 100 displaced families came to the province from the cities of Mosul and Ramadi to escape the brutality of ISIL,” Dhi Qar governor Yahya al-Nasseri told Mawtani.

“Our province has devoted all its resources to provide the suitable conditions for the displaced and has provided them with food rations and emergency supplies, in addition to giving them financial assistance,” he said.

Dhi Qar is working alongside government ministries and international humanitarian organisations to support the displaced families, he said.

“The province has started to register the names of all the displaced persons who arrived here to build a database of the displaced in order to qualify them to receive all the rights and privileges that are granted to them,” he said.

In Basra, a special committee has been set up to follow up on the affairs of the approximately 250 displaced families in the province, said Basra provincial council human rights committee chairwoman Iktifa Shallah Mohammed.

The special committee is headed by the governor and includes members of the provincial council’s human rights, security and migration committees in addition to representatives from the intelligence agency and the relevant humanitarian organisations, she said.

“It will take up several tasks, the most important of which is the building of a model camp to house the displaced, and will lay down the mechanisms that will help them and meet all their needs,” she said.

“The local Basra government has placed the families in compounds and temporary homes until the camp can be completed, and has provided them with emergency relief items,” she said. The province plans to allocate funds from its budget to help the displaced population meet their immediate needs, she added.

Basra is now working to accurately determine the numbers of displaced families to build an integrated database in order to provide them with better services and support, Mohammed said.

This effort will help ensure that donations and assistance are provided to the deserving and prevent these funds from falling into the hands of “terrorists who are searching for a foothold in our province to carry out their goals in targeting the economic nerve of Iraq”, she said.

© 2014 Assyrian International News Agency.

Source: