Iraqi IDPs Access to Durable Solutions: Results of Two Rounds of a Longitudinal Study
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Author | Lorenza Rossi,Rochelle Davis,Grace Benton,Sinan Zeyneloglu,Salma Al‐Shami |
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12491 |
Iraqi IDPs Access to Durable Solutions:
Results of Two Rounds of a Longitudinal
Study
Lorenza Rossi*, Rochelle Davis**, Grace Benton**, Sinan Zeyneloglu* and
Salma Al-Shami**
ABSTRACT
This article discusses the findings from a 4,000 household, longitudinal study conducted by
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Georgetown University. Using the
Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Framework on Durable Solutions, we investigate
the circumstances in which households were displaced, and how their needs, strategies, and
access to durable solutions change over time as they integrate, return, or settle elsewhere.
Findings from the study thus allow us to build an evidence base that helps researchers and
policymakers to move beyond conceptions of displacement as either a ‘crisis’or a problem
that has been solved, and instead bring into focus the ways in which displaced people find
ways to rebuild their lives and livelihoods that coexist alongside patterns of mobility and risk
management.
INTRODUCTION
This article discusses the findings from a longitudinal study conducted by the International Organi-
zation for Migration (IOM) and Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of International
Migration (ISIM) to understand the experiences of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq in
accessing quasi-durable and durable solutions to their displacement. Internal displacement has a
long and painful history in Iraq, and at the beginning of 2018, the estimates of the number of IDPs
stood at over 2.57 million (and 3.27 returned IDPs) out of a total Iraqi population of 36 million
people (IOM, 2018). Recent estimates suggest that displacement in Iraq is at an all-time high, and
even as new displacement is taking place, those living in displacement from prior conflicts have
not found solutions (Edwards, 2016). For millions of Iraqi IDPs, finding solutions means an end to
living in limbo. For local and national authorities and host communities, it means being able to
move beyond short-term planning and to incorporate IDPs into development plans. For the interna-
tional community, finding solutions means an eventual end to repeating cycles of appeals for
humanitarian funding. For everyone, it means opportunities for increased stability, security, and
economic wellbeing.
The Iraqi government has addressed the issues of IDPs through a variety of institutions and pro-
grammes since 2003. The Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MoMD) was established to
assist IDPs, refugees, and returnees. Prior to the 2014 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
* International Organization for Migration
** Georgetown University
doi: 10.1111/imig.12491
©2018 The Authors
International Migration ©2018 IOM
International Migration Vol. 57 (2) 2019
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
displacements, it has been largely ineffectual and helped few people. Since 2014, the MoMD has
registered a significant percentage of those displaced (94% in our sample), and registered families
are eligible to receive a one-time payment of cash assistance of 1 million Iraq Dinars (800 US Dol-
lars). The Iraqi Property Claims Commission (PCC) is said to have resolved half of the 160,000
property claims submitted to it as of 2013 (Van der Auweraert, 2013). Land ownership remains a
deeply contested issue, in Kirkuk and Diyala governorates in particular, and is likely to become an
issue again when IDPs displaced by ISIS try to return to their homes in those governorates. More
recently, the Central Committee for Compensating the Affected (CCCA) reports billions of Iraqi
dinars distributed to families of the dead and injured as well as the creation of a database and com-
pensation for property damage according to the First Amendment of the Law No. 20 of 2009 (Iraq
Council of Ministers, 2017).
While this study is of immediate interest to Iraqi IDPs and those serving them, it also has implica-
tions for those working with internally displaced populations more generally. The need for durable
solutions has long featured in the discourse around IDPs and refugees, and the Inter-Agency Stand-
ing Committee (IASC) Framework on Durable Solutions and the IOM’s Framework on the Progres-
sive Resolution of Displacement Situations offer essential guidance on both the criteria and the
process of finding solutions. What sets this study apart from others is the longitudinal design; that
is, it is based on multiple rounds of quantitative and qualitative interviews with Iraqi IDPs over time,
as well as qualitative interviews with representatives of host communities and other stakeholders.
The study is based on three research questions:
1) How does the experience of displacement and access to durable solutionsamong IDPs in
Iraq change over time?
2) What are the needs, coping strategies, and aspirations of IDPs, and which events or factors
are perceived to impact these needs, coping strategies, and aspirations over time?
3) How does the experience of IDPs in Iraq inform our conceptualization and operationalization
of quasi-durable and durable solutions?
Based on the first and second rounds of interviews, carried out in March–April 2016 and Febru-
ary–May 2017 respectively, the study provides baseline and follow-up data on the needs, coping
strategies and aspirations of IDPs not living in camps. Longitudinal studies can enhance under-
standing of migration and population displacement for the following reasons: 1) they allow us to
understand more precisely the processes through which various factors influence decisions to move;
and 2) they enable understanding of the longer-term effects of displacement (World Bank, 2015).
The longitudinal research design of this study is thus particularly well suited to understand the cir-
cumstances in which individuals were displaced, and how individuals’needs, strategies, and access
to durable solutions change over time. Findings from the study thus allow us to build an evidence
base that helps researchers and policymakers to move beyond conceptions of displacement as either
a‘crisis’or a problem that has been solved, and instead bring into focus the ways in which the
process of seeking out durable solutions to displacement coexists alongside patterns of mobility
and risk management. They contribute to IOM’s Community Transition and Recovery Programme,
which has taken a leading role in creating community-driven programmes to promote stabilization
and social cohesion (IOM, 2017).
LITERATURE REVIEW
A number of valuable studies have addressed Iraqi internal displacement (Cohen, 2009; Van der
Auweraert, 2011;Madarik Foundation,2013; Siddiquiet al., 2017a,2017b, 2016),but thefield
Iraqi IDPs Access to Durable Solutions49
©2018 The Authors. International Migration ©2018 IOM
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