Iraq – Emergency Tracking - Displacement and Returns to Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj Districts (2 - 16 October 2020)

Between 2 and 16 October 2020, DTM tracked 4,042 individuals (752 families) returning to Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj districts in Iraq’s Ninewa governorate. This brings the total number of individuals that have taken this route to 30,706 (5,736 families) since data collection commenced on 8 June.
In this reporting period, the average number of daily individual arrivals was 19 to Al-Ba’aj and 250 to Sinjar. While in this period the daily average number of arrivals to Al-Ba’aj is consistent with the overall daily average since 8 June (21), the daily average number of arrivals to Sinjar is higher than the overall daily average since 8 June (217).
This increase in arrivals can be explained by increased assistance being provided to IDPs in returning to Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj, as well as reports of greater employment opportunities in these districts compared with the locations in which they had been displaced.
Of those individuals who returned between 2 and 16 October, a total of 3,757 were recorded in Sinjar (93%) and 285 were recorded in Al-Ba’aj (7%) – broadly consistent with the rates of individuals’ districts of arrival since 8 June.
The most common sub-district of arrival was Al-Shamal with 2,173 individuals (54%), followed by Markaz Sinjar with 848 individuals (21%). Together, these two sub-districts comprise 80% of all individuals recorded as having arrived to Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj since data collection commenced on 8 June. Otherwise, 736 individuals arrived to the sub-district of Qaeyrrawan (18%) and 285 arrived to Al-Qahtaniya (7%).
Of those individuals identified as returning between 2 and 16 October, 3,405 were recorded as returnees (84%), while the remaining 673 were recorded as out-of-camp IDPs (16%). This represents a deviation from the overall proportion of individuals having been identified as returnees (74%) and out-of-camp IDPs (26%) since 8 June.
Additionally, between 2 and 16 October, a total of 3,297 individuals were recorded as departing from Dahuk Governorate (82%) – which is similar with the rates of individuals having departed from there since 8 June (81%). As with all previous rounds, between 2 and 16 October, the majority of individuals from Dahuk were recorded as coming from the districts of Sumel (44% of all individuals) and Zakho (32% of all individuals). The remaining individuals from Dahuk Governorate were recorded as coming from the districts of Dahuk (3% of all individuals) and Amedi (3% of all individuals).
Additionally, between 2 and 16 October, a further 650 individuals were recorded as having come from within Ninewa (16%), mainly from two districts: Al-Shikhan (11% of all individuals) and Tilkaif (3% of all individuals).
This proportion (16%) of individuals recorded as having come from Ninewa between 2 and 16 October is broadly consistent with the overall proportion of individuals recorded as having come from there since 8 June (18%). Otherwise, 59 individuals were recording arriving from Erbil Governorate (1% of all individuals), while 36 individuals arrived from Sulaymaniyah Governorate (1% of all individuals).
Since 8 June, almost all individuals have been recorded as having departed from Sumel (51% of all individuals), Zakho (27%), and Al-Shikhan districts (14%).
Between 2 and 16 October, of the 3,757 individuals that arrived to Sinjar District, 3,217 came from Dahuk Governorate (83%), while 541 came from within Ninewa (15%), 53 came from Erbil (1%), and 36 came from Sulaymaniyah (1%). Additionally, of the 285 individuals that arrived to Al-Ba’aj District, 170 came from Dahuk (60%), 109 came from within Ninewa (38%), and six came from Erbil (2%).
Furthermore, during the same period, a total of 2,407 individuals were recorded as coming from camp settings (60%), while the remaining 1,635 individuals came from out-of-camp settings (40%). This differs from the rates of individuals coming from different settings since 8 June, as follows: 21,834 individuals have arrived from camp settings (71%) compared with 8,872 individuals that have arrived from out-of-camp settings (29%).
Between 2 and 16 October, increases were recorded to the number of individuals who had been living in camp settings in their previous districts of displacement. The total number of individuals now in Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj who have come from camp settings within Sumel is now 10,793 (up from 9,874), while Zakho’s is 6,888 (up from 5,894), and Al-Shikhan’s is 3,605 (up from 3,246).
In addition, since 8 June, the total number of individuals that have come from out-of-camp settings within Sumel is now 4,768 (up from 3,904), while Zakho’s is now 1,368 (up from 1,066), and Al-Shikhan’s is 771 (up from 681).