Iraq – Emergency Tracking - Displacement and Returns to Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj Districts ( 22 November 2020 to 3 January 2021)

Between 22 November 2020 and 3 January 2021, DTM tracked 4,484 individuals (826 families) returning to Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj districts in Iraq’s Ninewa Governorate. This brings the total number of individuals who have taken this route to 45,268 (8,488 families) since data collection commenced on 8 June 2020.
In this reporting period, the average number of daily individual arrivals was 111 to Sinjar (down significantly from 258 in the last round) and 10 to Al-Ba’aj (down from 16 in the last round). In this period, the daily number of arrivals to Sinjar is lower than the overall daily average since 8 June (205); the daily number of arrivals to Al-Ba’aj is also lower than the overall daily average since 8 June (19).
Of those individuals who returned between 22 November 2020 and 3 January 2021, a total of 4,106 were recorded in Sinjar (92%) and 378 were recorded in Al-Ba’aj (8%) – broadly consistent with the rates of individuals’ districts of arrival since 8 June.
The most common sub-district of arrival was Al-Shamal with 2,514 individuals (56%), followed by Markaz Sinjar with 1,077 individuals (24%). Together, these two sub-districts comprise 78 per cent of all individuals recorded as having arrived to Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj since data collection commenced on 8 June. Otherwise, 515 individuals arrived to the sub-district of Qaeyrrawan (11%) and 378 arrived to Al-Qahtaniyah (8%).
Of those individuals identified as returning between 22 November and 3 January, 3,790 were recorded as returnees (85%), while the remaining 694 were recorded as out-of-camp IDPs (15%). This represents a deviation from the overall proportion of individuals having been identified as returnees (77%) and out-of-camp IDPs (23%) since 8 June.
Additionally, between 22 November and 3 January, a total of 3,555 individuals were recorded as departing from Dahuk Governorate (79%) – which is similar to the rates of individuals having departed from there since 8 June (81%). As with all previous rounds, between 22 November and 3 January, the majority of individuals from Dahuk were recorded as coming from the districts of Sumel (45% of all individuals) and Zakho (29%). The remaining individuals from Dahuk Governorate were recorded as coming from the districts of Dahuk (4% of all individuals) and Amedi (1%).
Additionally, between 22 November and 3 January, a further 810 individuals were recorded as having come from within Ninewa (18%), mainly from Al-Shikhan (14% of all individuals), with rest from and Sinjar (3%), Tilkaif (1%), and Mosul (<1%).
This proportion (18%) of individuals recorded as having come from Ninewa between 22 November and 3 January is consistent with the overall proportion of individuals recorded as having come from there since 8 June (18%). Otherwise, 31 individuals arrived from Sulaymaniyah Governorate (1%), while 40 individuals arrived from Erbil Governorate (1% of all individuals), and 48 individuals arrived from Kerbala Governorate (1%)—the first account of movements from there since data collection for this exercise commenced on 8 June.
Since 8 June, almost all individuals have been recorded as having departed from Sumel (49% of all individuals), Zakho (28%), and Al-Shikhan districts (14%).
Between 22 November and 3 January, of the 4,106 individuals who arrived to Sinjar District, 3,348 came from Dahuk Governorate (82%), while 639 came from within Ninewa (16%), 48 came from Kerbala (1%), and 31 came from Sulaymaniyah (1%). Additionally, of the 378 individuals who arrived to Al-Ba’aj District, 207 came from Dahuk (55%) and 171 came from within Ninewa (45%).
Furthermore, during the same period, a total of 2,826 individuals were recorded as coming from camp settings (63%), while the remaining 1,658 individuals came from out-of-camp settings (37%). This is broadly consistent with the rates of individuals coming from different settings since 8 June, as follows: 31,578 individuals have arrived from camp settings (70%) while 13,690 individuals have arrived from out-of-camp settings (30%).
Between 22 November and 3 January, increases were recorded in the number of individuals who had been living in camp settings in their previous districts of displacement. Since 8 June 2020, the total number of individuals now in Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj who have come from camp settings within Sumel is now 14,617 (up from 13,486), while Zakho’s is 10,808 (up from 9,705), and Al-Shikhan’s is 5,339 (up from 4,795).
In addition, since 8 June 2020, the total number of individuals who have come from out-of-camp settings within Sumel is now 7,507 (up from 6,598), while Zakho’s is now 2,078 (up from 1,889), and Al-Shikhan’s is 1,087 (up from 991).