Mobility Tracking

From May 2018 to June 2022, 42,713 Iraqi returnees from abroad were identified in 17 Governorates, 73 Districts and 712 locations. During this reporting period, IOM Iraq achieved full country coverage.

Most of the returnees from abroad were recorded in the governorates of Thi-Qar (47%), Ninewa (40%) and Anbar (5%). Of those returnees recorded in Thi-Qar, 88 per cent were recorded in the district of Nassriya, while 7 per cent were recorded in Suq Al-Shoyokh. In Ninewa, 64 per cent were recorded in the district of Telafar, while 22 per cent were recorded in Sinjar. Finally, in Anbar, 43 per cent returned to the district of Ana while 38 per cent were in Al-Ka'im. The majority of returnees (52%) were identified as having come from two countries: Turkey (32%) and the Syrian Arab Republic (20%).

From May 2018 to December 2022, 46,578 Iraqi returnees from abroad were identified in 18 Governorates, 74 Districts and 723 locations. During this reporting period, IOM Iraq achieved full country coverage.

Most of the returnees from abroad were recorded in the governorates of Thi-Qar (51%), Ninewa (37%) and Anbar (4%). Of those returnees recorded in Thi-Qar, 88 per cent were recorded in the district of Nassriya, while 7 per cent were recorded in Suq Al-Shoyokh. In Ninewa, 64 per cent were recorded in the district of Telafar, while 22 per cent were recorded in Sinjar. Finally, in Anbar, 43 per cent returned to the district of Ana while 38 per cent were in Al-Ka'im. The majority of returnees (50%) were identified as having come from two countries: Turkiye (31%) and the Syrian Arab Republic (19%).

From May 2018 to April 2023, 48,536 Iraqi returnees from abroad were identified in 18 Governorates, 74 Districts and 726 locations. During this reporting period, IOM Iraq achieved full country coverage. Most of the returnees from abroad were recorded in the governorates of Thi-Qar (53%), Ninewa (36%) and Anbar (4%). Of those returnees recorded in Thi-Qar, 88 per cent were recorded in the district of Nassriya, while 7 per cent were recorded in Suq Al-Shoyokh. In Ninewa, 64 per cent were recorded in the district of Telafar, while 22 per cent were recorded in Sinjar. Finally, in Anbar, 42 per cent returned to the district of Ana while 38 per cent were in Al-Ka'im. The majority of returnees (48%) were identified as having come from two countries: Turkey (30%) and the Syrian Arab Republic (18%).

From May 2018 to August 2023, 51,006 Iraqi returnees from abroad were identified in 18 Governorates, 74 Districts and 732 locations. During this reporting period, IOM Iraq achieved full country coverage. Most of the returnees from abroad were recorded in the governorates of Thi-Qar (54%), Ninewa (35%) and Anbar (4%). Of those returnees recorded in Thi-Qar, 89 per cent were recorded in the district of Nassriya, while 7 per cent were recorded in Suq Al-Shoyokh. In Ninewa, 62 per cent were recorded in the district of Telafar, while 21 per cent were recorded in Sinjar. Finally, in Anbar, 42 per cent returned to the district of Ana while 38 per cent were in Al-Ka'im. The majority of returnees (47%) were identified as having come from two countries: Turkey (29%) and the Syrian Arab Republic (18%).

This brief is part of a larger research project, Cities as Home, carried out by IOM Iraq, the Returns Working Group, and Social Inquiry, that explores both drivers and deterrents of integration across 14 urban locations that still host the largest share of IDPs in the country. The outputs of this project also include an analysis report on determinants of integration for IDPs and host community members, factsheets for each location, and four detailed case studies.

This set of factsheets provides a localised understanding of how conducive each of the 15 urban locations in Iraq hosting the largest share of out-of-camp internally displaced persons (IDPs) are for local integration. The inclusion of four case studies provides further insights into particular locations of interest.  This interpretation of local integration takes into account the IASC Framework for Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons criteria and expands upon it to include more subjective measures as well as the wider community in which the displaced live. 2 IDP and host community population figures referenced in the factsheets and case studies come from the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix Masterlist Round 113, which corresponds to when nearly all data collection took place. Given COVID-19 restrictions, data collection in Sulaymaniyah City occurred in May 2020. The analysis presented here is predicated on the understanding of local integration as stemming from IDPs’ feelings of belonging to the hosting location as well as host community members’ acceptance of them over the long term and the regulatory landscape that surrounds both.1 It is based on an overall quantitative analysis of these locations, the household-level data collection of which took place between December 2019 and February 2020, conducted for the wider Cities as Home research project that identified the individual and place-related factors that drive or deter belonging and acceptance. These factors include societal, institutional, cultural, and socioeconomic indicators of the hosting locations and their populations. This analysis was further supplemented by detailing the instructions, regulations, and laws that are specifically related to the ability of non-camp IDPs to reside in cities in the country and enjoy the same rights as the host community.

This report, Protracted Displacement in Iraq: Revisiting Categories of Return Barriers, is the second in this series and draws upon new literature and data that has been collected since Categorizing Protracted Displacement in Iraq was published. The aim of this report is to provide an updated evidence base to inform continued strategy development and monitoring relating to the resolution of IDPs in protracted displacement, through: • Providing an updated overview of the current IDP context in Iraq  Providing an updated categorization framework and highlighting the different types of barriers faced by IDPs in returning to their areas of origin

This brief is part of a larger research project, Reimagining Reintegration, carried out by IOM Iraq and Social Inquiry, that explores the sustainability of returns across 14 districts hosting the largest shares of returnees in the country. These are, in descending order of returns, Mosul, Ramadi, Falluja, Telafar, Tikrit, Heet, Hawija, Hamdaniya, Shirqat, Kirkuk, Baiji, Sinjar, Khanaqin, and Balad. The findings presented here are drawn from an original household survey and roster of 2,260 returnee respondents in these districts collected between March and April 2022. The survey included a household module (applicable to the overall household situation), a personal module (gathering perceptions of the respondent), and a roster module (collecting personal characteristics of each household member), covering topics related to demographics, displacement and conflict history, safety and security, adequate standards of living, livelihoods and economic conditions, housing condition/restitution and tenure security, civil documentation, social cohesion and public participation, and remedies and justice. The outputs of this project also include an analysis of sustainable reintegration in districts of return and another brief on differences between male- and female-headed households and their implications for sustainable return.

This report presents an overview of reintegration of returnees across the top 14 districts with the largest number of returnees; altogether, they represent more than 80% of the almost 5 million returnees that IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix estimated in March 20221 . This research was designed to obtain a statistically representative sample of the returnee population in each district with at most a 10% margin of error within a 95% confidence interval.

In February 2021, IOM Iraq, the Returns Working Group and Social Inquiry produced a report,Home Again?. The report analyzed the sustainability of reintegration of Iraqi families who had returned to their area of origin after being displaced due to the ISIL conflict. In line with the durable solutions framework developed by the Expert Group on Refugee and IDP Statistics (EGRIS), the report examined the extent to which sustainable reintegration had taken place across five areas.9 The study found that the main challenges to reintegration relate to housing, land and property (HLP); safety, security and social relations; and access to livelihoods and economic security. In 2021, IOM published a report and set of district profiles related to HLP, as well as a report focused on safety, security and social relations. Taken together, this series of reintegration reports – including this report focused on livelihoods and economic security – provides a comprehensive evidence base in support of the advancement towards sustainable reintegration for the 825,372 returnee families across the country.

The objective of this report is to strengthen the evidence-base related to the types of reintegration challenges related to livelihoods and economic security that returnees face across the country. The analysis is structured around the two relevant sub-criteria from the EGRIS framework, as follows: Livelihoods and employment and  Economic Security.