Forced to return home to vote, the displaced of Anbar face booby traps and vigilante violence

Displaced Iraqis forced to make the journey back to the country’s western provinces face insecurity and threats such as booby traps in the streets after authorities demanded they return in time for next month’s parliamentary elections.

Managing more than two million people displaced in the war between Iraqi forces and ISIS is one of Baghdad’s most daunting tasks after it declared victory against the extremists in December.

Those who have made the return to their homes in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections, are struggling to rebuild their lives, Jaber Al Jaberi, an Iraqi politician representing Anbar, said on Twitter.

“Citizens are seeking compensation from the government to rebuild their damaged homes, but the government is failing to provide that funding and [it] is ignoring their demands,” Mr Al Jaberi wrote.

Many face reprisals upon returning home and the risk of death from booby traps or vigilante violence.

“The biggest catastrophe here is the inability of the government to run its institutions and to provide basic public services,” Mr Al Jaberi said. Residents are safer in displacement camps than in their own homes in western Iraq, he said.

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, Iraqi authorities forced nearly 9,000 people from camps back to their homes in Anbar between November and December last year.

Although Baghdad’s central government has announced the defeat of ISIS, Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi admitted that the country was still engaged in a fight against insurgent sleeper cells.

Yesterday, Iraqi security forces killed seven fighters in the Anbar desert, the National Iraqi News Agency reported.

Iraqi and US security officials have repeatedly said that extremists remain in pockets along the border with Syria and in parts of the Iraqi desert.

“Retaken areas are not fully cleared of explosive hazards, and unstable infrastructures heavily damaged from ground fighting and air strikes present safety concerns,” the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Iraq said last week.

Roads and neighbourhood closures, checkpoints, curfews, and military attacks are creating security challenges for displaced, resident and returning populations, UNHCR reported.

Nearly 46,000 internally displaced persons are in western Anbar and 2.2 million are displaced in all of Iraq.

Iraq’s anti-terrorism law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped ISIS, even if they are not accused of violence.

On Monday, Iraq put 13 people to death, including 11 convicted of terrorism – individuals guilty of car bombings, killing security personnel and kidnappings.

In January, an Iraqi court condemned an unnamed German woman to death by hanging after finding her guilty of ISIS membership.

She was convicted of providing logistical support to the group and participating in attacks against Iraqi soldiers.