Iraq Crisis: Finding a Place to Stay

UNHCR

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Added: 16 Jun 2014

Tens of thousands of people have fled to Erbil and Duhok governorates in Iraq's Kurdistan region over the past week, sheltering in schools, mosques, churches and temporary camps following a surge of violence in parts of central and northern Iraq. UNHCR and its partners have been working to meet the urgent shelter needs. The refugee agency has delivered close to 1,000 tents to a transit camp being built by the authorities and NGOs at Garmawa, near Duhok.

Many of the people arriving from Mosul at checkpoints between Ninewa and governorate and Iraq's Kurdistan region have limited resources and cannot afford to pay for shelter. Some people stay with family, while others are staying in hotels and using up their meagre funds.

In the village of Alqosh, some 150 people from 20 families, with little more than the clothes on their back, have been living in several overcrowded classrooms in a primary school for the past week. One member of the group said they had lived in a rented apartment in Mosul and led a normal family life. But in Alqosh, they feared for the welfare and education of their children and the presence of snakes and scorpions.

An Iraqi woman from Mosul carries her son at the Garmava transit camp, which is located near a checkpoint on the road between Mosul and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan. The camp will have the capacity to host some 3,000 people © UNHCR/S.BaldwinImage

Members of an extended Iraqi family who fled their homes in Mosul and found shelter in a primary school in the village of Alqosh, near Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan. © UNHCR

An Iraqi woman and her son, both internally displaced from Mosul, stand beside a water truck on the road leading past the Garmava transit camp. On June 14, when UNHCR visited, 53 people from nine families had taken refuge at the site. © UNHCR

An Iraqi woman from Mosul holds her daughter in one hand and empty water containers in the other. Two other children follow her in search of water near the Garmava temporary camp, where UNHCR has delivered tents. Getting food and water is a challenge © UNHCR

A young boy sleeps on a pillow and rug. The women and girls in the background are his relatives, members of an extended Iraqi family who fled their homes in Mosul and found shelter in the village of Alqosh outside of Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan. © UNHCR

Some of the hundreds of UNHCR tents delivered to the transit camp being built by the authorities and NGOs at Garmawa, near Duhok. © UNHCR

The male members of an extended Iraqi family, who fled their homes in Mosul, sits on mattresses and rugs in a room of the primary school in Alqosh where they have found shelter. © UNHCR

Iraqi children from Mosul fill water containers with precious supplies of water from a tanker outside the Garmava transit camp, located near a checkpoint on the road between Mosul and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan. © UNHCR

A young girl sleeps surrounded by relatives in their new home, a primary school in Alqosh, Duhok. They fled their home in Mosul days earlier. © UNHCR

The village of Alqosh nestles under hills in Iraqi Kurdistan's Duhok governorate. Some 150 people from 20 families have taken shelter on the first floor of a primary school. © UNHCR

Children carry plates of food in the Alqosh primary school. Some people who have fled from Mosul will need help finding shelter, food and water. This group are among about 150 people from 20 families who have found space to stay in the Alqosh school. © UNHCR