521,000 displaces families in Iraq

The number of internally displaced families fleeing conflict in Iraq has reached 521,000, a  a government official revealed today.

“The last statistic shows 521,000 internally displaced families. More than 2.6 million internally displaced persons exist if the average family is five people,” Asghar Al-Mosawi of the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement told the Anadolu Agency.

The families were recorded from Anbar in western Iraq, Diyala in the east as well as Saladin and Nineveh in northern Iraq.

Most of the displaced people are located in camps in the northern, central and western regions of Iraq.

Al-Mosawi expected the number of displaced families to keep increasing.

Latest statistics from January 2015 had recorded 507,000 internally displaced families.

The security situation quickly deteriorated since June 10 2014 when the Islamic State (ISIS) took over large swathes of Iraq.

International relief organisations, such as the Red Cross and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, along with local organisations, such as the Iraqi Red Crescent and Iraqi Ministry of Immigration and Migrants, provide aid for those fleeing the conflict.

However, Iraqi officials have said that the volume of aid offered by UN organisations does not match the severity of the situation.