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.

In February 2021, IOM Iraq, the Returns Working Group and Social Inquiry produced a report, Home Again? Categorising Obstacles to Returnee Reintegration in Iraq. It analyzed the sustainability of reintegration for families who had returned to their area of origin after being displaced due to the ISIL conflict.5 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.6 Persistent issues related to safety, security and social relations were found to represent the most significant barriers to achieving sustainable reintegration amongst returnees in Iraq.

The objective of this report is to inform strategy development and planning in support of the sustainable reintegration of returnees in their area of origin. It provides a snapshot of the key reintegration challenges that returnees face related to safety, security and social relations, and highlights areas where these challenges are most prevalent. Where there is longitudinal data, the report also demonstrates how conditions have changed in the period between October 2020 and September 2021.

This report examines the prevalence of key obstacles for reintegration that returnee households face in Iraq as of mid-2020. These obstacles are grouped into five main criteria, as follows: safety, security & social relations, access to livelihoods & economic security, documentation, property resitution & compensation and adequate standard of living.

As of December 2020, Iraq has witnessed the return of 4.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their places of origin in the aftermath of the ISIL conflict. 1 Inter-Agency Standing Committee, IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons. Expert Group on Refugee and IDP Statistics, International Recommendations on IDP Statistics, background document to fifty-first session of the UN Statistical Commission, 3-6 March 2020. This is a significant returnee population and, while the movement home is a first step toward reintegration, it is not necessarily an indication of longer-term sustainability per se.1 The analysis in this report, by IOM Iraq, the Returns Working Group (RWG), and Social Inquiry, builds upon on and complements previous assessments on durable solutions, mainly with regards to obstacles to return as well as progress toward local integration for IDPs. The focus here is specifically on returnees and obstacles to their sustainable reintegration upon return.

This pilot project aims at assessing progress towards durable solutions33 to displacement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees in Ninewa Governorate of Iraq in order to understand where they stand five years after the end of the 2014-2017 crisis and in which aspects they are still struggling compared to the population who never left their location of origin (‘stayees’). In this respect this project contributes to a broader discussion and Action Agenda around measuring progress towards solutions – and determining the end of displacement – which aims at operationalizing the eight criteria of the Framework for Durable Solutions produced by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and informing targeted interventions in key areas of concern.34 The analysis of this project builds on the information and knowledge gained by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) about the 2014-2017 crisis. IOM Iraq has been tracking and monitoring IDP stock figures as early as December 2013 through the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).35 The collection of returnee stock figures began in April 2015, although returnee stock figures have been retroactively reported since October 2014. IOM Iraq also uses the Displacement Index36 and Return Index37 as tools to monitor the living conditions of the IDP and returnee populations at the location level across key sectors, such as livelihoods, housing, services, safety, social cohesion and inclusiveness. 

This report on Salah al Din Governorate is an extension of the original pilot project in Ninewa aimed at assessing progress towards durable solutions40 to displacement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees in the governorates with the largest shares of displaced populations in Iraq. The goal is to understand where IDPs and returnees stand five years after the end of the 2014–2017 crisis and in which aspects they are still struggling compared to the population who never left their location of origin (that is, stayees). In this respect, this project contributes to a broader discussion and Action Agenda around measuring progress towards solutions – and determining the end of displacement – which aims at operationalizing the eight criteria of the Framework for Durable Solutions produced by the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and informing targeted interventions in key areas of concern.

DTM Iraq conducts data collection at the border crossing points with neighboring countries – the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey and the Syrian Arab Republic – to better understand migration movement in the Middle East. This data collection activity is part of the Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy (REMAP) project, targeting Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. The data for this report was gathered through counting exercises that took place at five border crossing points during the months of November and December 2019.

DTM Iraq collects data at border crossing points with neighboring countries – the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran), the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) and Turkey – to better understand migration movements in the Middle East. Cross-border monitoring is drawn from IOM’s DTM standard methodology designed to capture and describe migration flows, and is part of IOM’s DTM Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy (REMAP) project, funded by the European Union, which aims to capture and describe migration flows in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. Data displayed in this report was collected at five border point crossings in January and February 2020, employing two different approaches: 1) headcount of all travellers entering or leaving Iraq, and 2) survey of randomly sampled travellers. Border crossing points were selected based on observations conducted in May 2019 by IOM’s Rapid Assessment and Response Teams (RARTs). Out of 16 locations observed, five border crossing points were selected for data collection: Ibrahim Al-Khalil, bordering Turkey, Fishkhabour, bordering Syria, and Bashmagh, Zurbatiyah (Wassit Terminal) and Al-Shalamcha, bordering Iran. Further details on the selection of respondents, survey methodology, and how the border crossing points were selected are available in the Methodological Overview in the last section of this report.

The report presents an overview of the overall movements of travellers observed at any of five selected border crossing points during January and February 2020. It is also focused in more detail on those travellers who are crossing the border for three or more months – they are referred to as migrants and comprise 12 per cent of all recorded travellers. Findings presented in this report relate to socio-demographic characteristics, reasons for travel and mobility history of this category of travellers.

DTM Iraq collects data at border crossing points with neighbouring countries – the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran), the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) and Turkey – to better understand migration movements in the Middle East. Cross-border monitoring is designed to capture and describe migration flows, and is part of IOM DTM’s Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy (REMAP) project, funded by the European Union. The project aims to capture and describe migration flows in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) funded this piece of research. 

This report seeks to identify migrants in vulnerable situations entering and departing Iraq who may be susceptible to trafficking in persons and/or other forms of abuse, violence and exploitation along their migratory journey. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the profile of the vulnerable groups, the means of organizing travel, push-factors in the decision-making process, level of risk-awareness and problems encountered during the journey.

Data displayed in this report were collected using two approaches: a headcount of all travellers entering or departing Iraq though the specified border points where DTM have data collection teams stationed and a survey of randomly selected travellers. Data collection took place between 1 September 2020 and 30 September 2021 at five border crossing points: Ibrahim Al-Khalil, bordering Turkey, Fishkhabour, bordering Syria, and Bashmagh, Zurbatiyah (Wassit Terminal) and Al-Shalamcha, bordering Iran. During this period, a total of 14,598 interviews were conducted with randomly selected travellers entering and departing Iraq. 

During the recent migration crisis in Belarus, thousands of Iraqis experienced harassment, exposure and violence. Many returned, via IOM 
facilitated movements through the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme and via movements organised and supported by the Government of Iraq from Belarus and neighbouring countries of the European Union (EU). Potential emigrants from Iraq began to travel to Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland in large numbers in the second half of 2021. In the context of negotiations between the Government of Belarus and the EU, the Government of Belarus’ relaxation of visa policies and a travel information campaign in Iraq, there was a significant increase in the number of potential emigrants from Iraq travelling to Belarus. Many of those potential emigrants travelled with the intention of onward travel to enter the European Union or the United Kingdom.

With the suspension of flights from Baghdad to Belarus in August 2021, potential emigrants from Iraq began to use alternative routes to reach 
Belarus and neighbouring EU countries, including from airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. The increase of Iraqi emigrants entering Belarus resulted in a crisis when Belarusian security forces began to move migrants to the country’s borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. This was accompanied by reports of violence and abuse against Iraqi migrants at the border, many of whom were reportedly unable to move into Europe or back into Belarus. As a result, the Government of Iraq (GoI), facilitated the return of approximately 3,800 Iraqi migrants. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), with the support of the European Union, have continued to facilitate the voluntary return of Iraqi migrants from Belarus and EU countries.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Pakistan collects data on the outflows of Afghans at the Torkham (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Badini, Bahramcha, and Chaman (Balochistan) border crossing points (BCPs) to better understand the movements of Afghans returning to Afghanistan. The data is harmonized with those from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who also cover the Ghulam Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) BCP.

On 26 September 2023, the Ministry of Interior in Pakistan announced its decision to enact its “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan (IFRP)”. Between 1 and 15 April 2024, a total of 8,261 Afghan nationals returned to Afghanistan, including 6,770 through the Torkham BCP, 877 through the Chaman BCP, and 614 through the Ghulam Khan BCP, while no Afghan nationals returned through the Badini and Bahramcha BCPs. In addition, border authorities deported 71 individuals due to a lack of valid documentation. Since 1 January 2024, IOM identified 62,559 returns at the four BCPs.