Iraq ministry says 320,000 Iraqis have sought refuge in Dohuk

The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration announced on Tuesday that more than 320,000 citizens have fled from the provinces of Anbar, Salah Al-Din and Nineveh to the province of Dohuk, located in the north of the country in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Deputy Minister Asghar Al-Musawi told Anadolu news agency that the ministry has registered more than 90,000 displaced families (about 320,000 individuals) who have sought refuge in Dohuk, noting that the ministry will prepare the province by setting up caravans to house the displaced families and empty the schools that they are currently living in.

“The ministry will complete [the task of] providing registered displaced families with a one million dinar financial grant [$850] so as to enable them to meet their needs, in addition to providing daily food aid to all families,” he said.

The security situation in most areas in the north and west of Iraq has rapidly deteriorated since 10 June, when the so-called Islamic State group seized control of vast areas of the country. This coincided with a massive wave of displacement, especially for the minorities who lived in Nineveh, a province known for its religious diversity. The displaced Iraqis headed to the Kurdish north, mostly to the provinces of Dohuk, Arbil and Sulaimaniyah.

International organisations like the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, along with domestic Iraqi organisations such as the Iraqi Red Cross and the Ministry of Displacement and Migration, are trying to provide relief efforts to offer urgent aid to hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis.

According to Anadolu, Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi’s new cabinet has allocated 1 trillion Iraqi dinars ($800 million) to the provision of housing and basic aid to displaced Iraqis so as to help them overcome the current crisis after fleeing their homes in fear.