Contents

• Training Center Handover to the Ministry of Interior.
• Immigration Training Center (ITEC) Opening in Basra.
• Distributing food and essential household items to IDPs in Northern Iraq.
• Medical Officer in Iraq receives Women of Courage Award.
• PHSS is helping the people of Iraq rebuild their lives, one job at a time.
• SAIT Training to Date.

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Contents

• CBMMP Workshop Review of Draft National Migration Strategy Document.
• Winter Aid for 200 IDP families in Northern Iraq.
• IOM - The Joint Operations Cell (JOC).
• Operation Smile & IOM restore smiles of 41 Iraqi Children.
• IOM Supports MoDM’s Core Information Management Function.
• CBIBM Documents examination training.
• Psychosocial Animation in War Torn Societies.
  

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The programme for Human Security and Stabilization in Iraq (PHSS) is well underway as IOM-Iraq Baghdad-based consultants continue to meet regularly with representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) to discuss program implementation and maintain strong communications with the ministry. On August 22nd 2007 CNN published a horrifying story about five year Youssif who was caught by masked men soaked with gasoline and set on fire outside his house in central Baghdad January 2007. By mid September Youssif and his family were flown to the US where he is currently undergoing multiple surgeries and extensive rehabilitation. SAIT recently received funding from the United Nations to extend its training into its fourth year of operation through to October 2008. The third phase which ended in September 2007 involved the training of 252 personnel from UN agencies, NGO, IOs and diplomatic missions in Jordan.

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Funded by the Government of Japan, the Capacity Building in Integrated Border Management (CBIBM) Programme aims to establish a replicable integrated border management system at the southern borders of Iraq. This will be achieved by incorporating approaches from best international practices to enable a more efficient management of the flows of persons and goods while preventing irregular migration and deterring trans-border crimes. Over the past six months, IOM has encountered, with increasing frequency, cases of migrant workers brought into Iraq against their knowledge or victims of abuses, who once in Iraq find themselves at the mercy of abusive employers and rogue recruiters. Groups assisted over the course of this quarter have included migrant workers from the Philippines and Ethiopia who had originally sought employment in other countries of the region, only to be deployed in Northern Iraq, where they were employed as domestic or construction workers. Upon the request of the Minister of (MoDM) – the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration - IOM designed and sponsored a skills development training programme for selected senior and middle-level managers. The training was carried out on-site in Iraq in order to maximize participation and facilitate attendance by Ministry staff. Also in accordance with the MoDM Minister’s request, training sessions were partially conducted during weekends to minimize disruptions to the Ministry’s activities.

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At the end of January, IOM’s Iraq and Washington offices hosted a press briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Journalists who attended the event featured information on displacement in Iraq in subsequent newspaper articles and radio news programs, bringing the plight of the displaced to a wider audience. IOM Iraq is to provide, at the beginning of April, voluntary return assistance to a new group of Sri Lankans stranded in Iraq, bringing the number of individuals having benefited from IOM evacuation assistance in recent weeks up to 30. Additional groups of Filipino, Somali and Ethiopian nationals in a similar situation have been brought to IOM’s attention. Assistance strategies are being devised for all, in close coordination with Iraqi and respective consular authorities. Based on a request from the World Food Programme (WFP) SAIT instructors delivered two training courses in January 2007 for 48 WFP national staff members. Training aimed to increase the awareness of WFP staff to enable them to carry out their mission with enhanced security attentiveness, thus minimizing their personal security risk. The last two days of the training were dedicated to Basic First Aid training delivered by the Jordanian Red Crescent.

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The Iraq Property Claims Programme (IPCP) hosted and ran two back-toback legal workshops in Amman for members of the Iraq Commission for Resolution of Real Property Disputes (CRRPD) from the regional offices throughout Iraq. Trainings took place from November 12th to the 15th and November 17th to the 20th 2006. Two members from SAIT travelled to Erbil in Iraq to deliver a Risk Management and Security Awareness Training (RMSAT) to 23 UN staff members from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). All trainees completed their training and received certification. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration has approved the extension of the Ministry of Displacement and Migration Capacity Building Programme (MoDM CBP) to July 2007. Priority intervention areas for the next programme phase have already been identified and coordinated both with the programme donor and MoDM. The IOM Iraq Mission held its annual staff retreat from December 16th to December 18th 2006 at the Dead Sea in Jordan. It was an opportunity for the Iraq Mission staff deployed in Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait to meet, some for the first time, and discuss the achievements of 2006 and the challenges and needs for the year ahead.

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IOM Chief of Mission along with MoDM CBP Programme Manager discussed capacity building support for the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) with MoDM Minister during UN Cluster F (Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and Durable Solutions) meetings held in Amman – Jordan July 8-10th. The last day of these three day meetings was solely dedicated to discussions around capacity building needs of MoDM. The IOM Iraq IDP Programme was pleased with the recent conclusion of the project “Community Stabilisation of IDPs in Missan”. The goal of this important project was to bring stabilization and reconciliation between host and displaced communities, assist local communities to identify their needs, execute projects as identified by communities, and then hand over the projects to local communities to ensure sustainability. When crisis struck Lebanon last July IOM quickly responded by sending its staff to Lebanon and Syria and teaming up with UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, local and non-local charity foundations and NGOs. IOM assisted in opening two medical clinics and channelling medical supplies, hygiene kits and other health essentials for the Third Country Nationals (TCNs) on the Lebanon/Syria border and for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) either evacuating Lebanon or moving away from conflict zones in the south up to Beirut and surrounding areas.

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The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Chief of Mission, Mr. Rafiq Tschannen and Programme Manager, Capacity Building Programmes, Mr. Zeynal Hajiyev visited Baghdad from June 18th to 25th 2006, where they met with the new Minister for Displacement and Migration Dr. Abdul Samid Rahman Sultan, new Minister of Interior Mr. Jewad Bolani, other Iraqi officials, officials from American, British, and Japanese embassies in Baghdad, as well as UN personnel to discuss migration management, Internally Displaced Persons, and the status of IOM’s current programmes in Iraq. Three Iraqi children; Ali, seven-yearsold, Miriam four and Ahmad three underwent successful heart and urological surgeries in The Specialty Hospital in Jordan with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO). This is part of the Medical Evacuation Programme where IOM assists evacuate patient, with complicated conditions that cannot be treated inside Iraq. The instillation of a potable water project in Wassit Governorate, south of Baghdad, was successfully completed thanks to the joint efforts of IOM and our partners on the ground. This comes as part of Community Assistance Projects IOM implements under the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Programme to bring long term solutions to vulnerable, displaced and host communities in Iraq.

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As of the end of April, over 68,000 persons have been displaced due to a recent upsurge of violence since the Samarra Mosque bombing of February 22nd. Some reports from the MoDM have cited figures of up to 100,000 persons displaced across the country. In response to the surge in IDPs, IOM is distributing food baskets, blankets, mattresses, jerry cans, kerosene stoves, kitchen sets, and hygienic kits to IDP families. In Baghdad, IOM’s implementing partners have delivered supplies to 470 families. IOM continues to work closely with the Iraqi authorities and the UN working group on IDPs to provide effcient, targeted emergency assistance to those Iraqis most in need. The Commission for Resolution of Real Property Disputes (CRRPD) (previously the Iraq Property Claims Commission (IPCC)) and IOM continued to work together to improve the Iraqi property claims process. A press conference was held on 25 April, at which Mr. Ahmed Al-Barrak, Head of the National Secretariat announced the impact of recent changes brought about by the new statute and extension of the claims filing deadline until 30 June 2007. IOM Physicians in Iraq are lending their assistance to the NGO ‘Operation Smile’ to provide free treatment for Iraqi children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate facial deformities. Since May 2005, IOM doctors have supported the NGO to bring over 120 Iraqi children to Amman, Jordan to undergo treatment for cleft lip and palates. IOM staff have been working with a team of volunteer medical professionals from Australia, Canada, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Morocco and the US, including Jordanian volunteers, at the Jameel Tatonji Hospital in Amman.

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Today over 6000 Iraqis urgently need medical evacuation outside of Iraq for medical treatment which is not available in country. Many of these are children, suffering from conditions such as leukemia and cancers which can not be treated within the country due to the ongoing conflict and break down in medical infrastructure. IOM is working closely with the MoH to find solutions for as many patients as possible, whilst at the same time working with donors and the UN Health Cluster to build existing health infrastructure within the country. During January and February 2006, IOM assisted over 560 Iraqis in their voluntary return home through the ‘Regional Operations Center’. IOM is implementing a Community Assistance Project (CAP) in Missan to simultaneously address these two prominent problems faced by women. The objective of this project is to offer training to women to be birth attendants in the districts of Ali Al Garbi, Al Maimona, Al Majer Al Kabeer and Qalat Salih.

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The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a USD 1,088,208 contribution towards IOM's programme which provides relief and rehabilitation assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 15 central and southern governorates of Iraq. Through the ‘Iraqis Rebuilding Iraq’ programme, IOM and UNDP, in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation of Iraq, are looking towards the Iraqi diaspora to assist with rehabilitation efforts in Iraq. During 14 – 18 November, the Programme Manager of CBMMP and the Chief of Mission of IOM Iraq traveled to Baghdad to undertake a series of consultation meetings with Iraqi counterparts. The IOM party met with officials from the Prime Minister Office (PMO), H.E the Minister of Displacement and Migrants, H.E Minister of Interior and his Deputy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister, and relevant International Consultants. The Aim of these meetings was to follow up on implementation issues relating to the project and to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between IOM and Ministry of Interior (MoI) regarding the project.

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In September IOM-CBMM Programme supported the participation of an Iraqi official from Ministry of Interior (MoI), in a four days International Migration Law course in San Remo. The course, which was organized by IOM and hosted at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, focused on the international legal framework governing migration with specific emphasis on the rights and responsibilities of states and migrants. IOM as part of its capacity-building initiative under the MoDM CB Programme was assigned to build up the potential of not only MoDM's physical and institutional infrastructure but also of the MoDM personnel themselves. Therefore, in several cities during September, IOM held and facilitated several important courses to train MoDM officials on monitoring, managing migration capacity-building, migration law and specialized website building techniques.

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The first three candidates who had been selected last June started their assignment as Director Generals in Baghdad in early July. Related to the conflict in Tel Afar, IOM provided emergency food and non-food assistance during August in Al Rasheedya village for 400 IDP families. Further distributions are planned following the ongoing needs assessments. Two Document Examination Training sessions for 30 Iraqi Immigration Border Officials took place in Amman. The sessions followed on from the June 2005 trainings and were hosted by the Government of Australia and IOM Iraq.

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In June three of IOM's Chief of Missions attend EMM training, IOM continue emergency distributions in Iraq , IOM and UNHCR organized a workshop on IDP Strategy for the MoDM staff and NGO partners, More TCN Back home, and The IPCC reported that the total number of claims decided by the IPCC Regional Commissions as of 22 June is 6,532. The IPCC also reported that a total of 84,405 claims have been filed so far.

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SAIT team, aided by UNAMI - SSU were deployed to the U.S. Camp Virginia in Kuwait, for 3 days to deliver important theoretical SAIT training for 134 members of the Fijian Armed Forces whom will be assuming the role as the rotating United Nation Guard Unit (UNGU) in Baghdad. IOM partners have started distribution of food items to 7829 vulnerable returnee families inside Falluja. The Iraqis Rebuilding Iraq official website has been launched and can now be accessed at www.iraq-iri.org Interested candidates will be able to download the application form directly from the site and submit it to the programme by email.

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The month of April saw Annika Timonen, the IOM Iraq Senior Operations Officer, re-enter in Baghdad for a one month posting as the first international staff member to return to Iraq since evacuation in 2004. The IDP programme held a successful Monitoring workshop in Amman, attended by various members of the MoDM. The IPCP programme continues to assist the Iraq Property Claims Commission with legal and other advice. Finally, we welcomed our three award-winning MEHRPI doctors back to Amman after their trip to the award-giving ceremony in Geneva.

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Three IOM-Iraq Mission doctors have won the IOM Director General Annual Award! I think this is the most impressive news we have this month. Working with the Iraq medical programme since its inception, the Iraqi doctors have contributed significantly to the effort to rehabilitate and revitalise the health system in their country. In March too, we have not only seen two IOM international staff on a visit to Basrah, but have also been able to send an IOM staff representative in Baghdad. She is working closely with the United Nations Mission (UNAMI) in Baghdad, as well as liaising directly with the Iraqi Government, Iraqi counterparts, partners, donors and IOM national staff. Finally, I was both mystified and impressed by the IT training undertaken by staff from the IPCC in Iraq.In a mixture of languages, our trainer and IT expert, Andy Tatam, delivered highly technical and challenging material in a warm and (dare I say it) exciting way.

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February saw the Mission's programmes once more strengthening and developing their reach. The IDP programme has all but completed its winterization activities and is gearing up for further large-scale distributions in Falluja, while IOM's two programmes in the field of capacity-building for migration continue to support the development of the Ministry of Displacement and Migration and other ministries. The Iraq Property Claims Programme has developed an interim claims database to assist the IPCC with the increasing number of claims and is handing this over along with extensive training to IPCC staff. All other programmes continue to deliver real and tangible benefits to the Iraq people.

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