Iraq expects 250,000 to be displaced west of Mosul

Iraq’s Minister of Displacement and Migration expects that between 200,000 to 250,000 civilians will be displaced from their homes in western Mosul ahead of the operation to liberate the city from Daesh, Anadolu reported on Wednesday. Jassim Al-Jaff noted that all of the necessary measures to cope with them are in place.

“As of Wednesday,” Al-Jaff told a press conference, “191,000 Iraqis have fled from Mosul. Some 37,000 returned home in the east of the city and 3,000 others are to be returned home every day.” The total of displaced Iraqis who have returned home since 2014 in different areas of Mosul stands at 1.6 million. “This is a large number,” he pointed out. “To encourage them, the ministry has decided to pay 1.5 million Iraqi dinars [$1,200] for every family that goes back home.”

The Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Lise Grande, said on Tuesday that she was concerned about the fate of 750,000 civilians in the western areas of Mosul as the start of a military operation against Daesh gets closer.