House Damage Revisited: How Type of Damage and Perpetrating Actor Affect Intentions and Actions of IDPs in Iraq
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Author | Olga Aymerich,Sinan Zeyneloglu |
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12497 |
House Damage Revisited: How Type of
Damage and Perpetrating Actor Affect
Intentions and Actions of IDPs in Iraq
Olga Aymerich* and Sinan Zeyneloglu*
ABSTRACT
House damage has been a widespread consequence of the Islamic State (IS) crisis in Iraq.
However, house and property damage per se is not a factor limiting return. The type and tim-
ing in which property destruction occurs –during direct military confrontation or before/after
it –and the alleged perpetrator constitute better indicators of inhibited returns as type of dam-
age and inflicting actor appear to have a significant effect on fears, perceptions and intentions
of IDPs and returnees.
INTRODUCTION
The Islamic State (IS) crisis in which Iraq has been immersed since December 2013 led –among
other consequences –to the displacement of hundreds of thousand Iraqi families (IOM Iraq Mis-
sion, 2017a). More than three years after the start of the crisis, fighting has now reached to an end,
although the destruction and displacement caused by the conflict may linger on for many years.
The territory which once fell under IS control has officially been retaken and operations are ongo-
ing to reduce the last pockets of IS resistance. Thus, returns are taking place by IDP families to
areas once held by the IS.
On 21 June 2017, the destruction by IS of Mosul’s Al-Nuri mosque –the same mosque where
the so–called caliphate had been announced on 29 June 2014 –was described by the Iraqi Prime
Minister Abadi as “a formal declaration of their (IS group) defeat”(Chulov and Shaheen, 2017).
Only two weeks after the destruction of Al-Nuri mosque, a new, less publicized landmark was
reached:thenumberofreturnedIDPsreached2 millionindividuals(IOMIraqMission, 2016;
October; IOM Iraq Mission, 2017a). However, approximately three million Iraqis remain internally
displaced across the country and their potential return presents several challenges. Proximity to the
frontline, instability in the areas of origin, distrust between population groups, fear of security
actors in the place of origin, as well as fear of reprisal back home, blocked returns of security
actors in charge, lack of livelihood and employment opportunities, and finally, the destruction or
occupation of private property, are some of the challenges (IOM Iraq Mission, 2017c, June). This
article focuses on the latter challenge in comparing the responses of IDPs and returned IDPs who
originate from eight different locations across northern central Iraq regarding their perceptions,
intentions and experiences of damage, displacement and return-related issues.
* International Organization for Migration, Erbil
doi: 10.1111/imig.12497
©2018 The Authors
International Migration ©2018 IOM
International Migration Vol. 57 (2) 2019
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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