Fleeing Violence, Living Precariously in Northern Iraq

The recent increase of violence in Iraq has left an estimated 1.8 million people displaced since January, according to official figures, with nearly half of them finding refuge in schools, camps, or unfinished buildings in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

Hundreds of thousands of people who have reached safer areas in KRG such as Dohuk Governorate are living in precarious conditions, often in overcrowded spaces with a lack of sanitation, which is affecting their health. One camp is ready while others are still being built, and temperatures are dropping.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is trying to help meet the new and increased medical needs by carrying out medical consultations through three mobile clinics in Dohuk. In one of the most poorly equipped camps in Zakho, an MSF team is preparing to install latrines, showers, and washing areas to reduce the risk of an epidemic. In the last month, MSF teams have conducted over 3,500 consultations for displaced people in Iraq.