The International Rescue Committee is deeply concerned by events in Mosul and elsewhere in Iraq. “The humanitarian crisis in Iraq, beyond the headlines of violent attacks, can no longer be ignored,” we said in a statement released today. At the beginning of this year Iraq had a million internally displaced people and over 200,000 refugees. Since then almost 480,000 additional individuals have been displaced from Anbar alone and now, an estimated 500,000 people are fleeing fighting in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city. How the IRC is responding Within the first 24 hours of the massive displacement from Mosul, the IRC worked to ensure the continuation of our ongoing programs and prepared to respond to new humanitarian needs. We are deploying…

Our team in Iraq is assessing urgent needs after hundreds of thousands of people fled Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, after a violent takeover on Tuesday. The International Organization for Migration estimates that 500,000 people fled in just a matter of days as the insurgent conflict moved to other northern cities, including Tikrit. Most of the displaced are heading east towards the Kurdistan region of Iraq. "We must act quickly before humanitarian conditions deteriorate completely. Not only are people trapped in bottlenecks as they flee to safety, but also they are contending with harsh weather as temperatures soar well over 100 degrees," said Mercy Corps' Iraq Country Director Steve Claborne. This massive surge of displaced people is causing chaos in…

Iraq - The fall of Mosul – Iraq’s second city – to Armed Opposition Groups (AOGs) this week displaced an estimated half a million people. IOM is now racing to procure and distribute urgently needed relief, not only to the affected population of Mosul, but also to thousands of other internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Anbar governorate cities of Fallujah, Ramadi and Heet, which have borne the brunt of the fighting over the past six months. “Insecurity is spreading across the whole of Iraq and we foresee a protracted humanitarian crisis,” said Mandie Alexander, IOM’s emergency coordinator in Baghdad. “It is getting worse by the hour and we do not have the necessary funding to respond adequately,” she added.…

Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing threats and fighting in Iraq. “The situation is deteriorating every hour and threatens to throw Iraq into a complicated and dangerous sectarian conflict. We need to be prepared for significantly higher numbers of people displaced”, warns Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland. NRC is scaling up relief in Northern and Western Iraq. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has estimated that about 500.000 people have been displaced in and from Ninewa Province, after armed opposition groups seized control over Iraq´s second largest city Mosul. Since then armed opposition groups have attacked several large cities in Iraq and now control large parts of North and Western Iraq. 480.000 people had been…

Thousands of children are benefitting from an ambitious Islamic Relief Iraq project, which is improving access to quality secondary school education. During the Iraq war, over 4,700 public schools were damaged or destroyed – increasing the challenges for an already strained education system. The project – which began last year – is working with five schools which have seen a considerable increase in drop-out rates over the past three years. Four schools are benefitting in the capital, Baghdad, where students continue to be affected by armed conflict as well as influxes of displaced families. The scheme also targets a school for girls in Erbil, regional capital of Iraqi-Kurdistan - a region which faces strain as families that have fled their…

An estimated half a million people have fled Iraq's second biggest city, Mosul, after it was seized early on Tuesday. The city had a population of almost two million before the mass exodus of its inhabitants. Of those displaced, 300,000 have fled to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). In response, ACTED is distributing non-food items in Khabat to those who are crossing over from Iraq to KRI, with the support of UNHCR and in co-ordination with other humanitarian organizations. Their aid efforts rely on up-to-date information from REACH, who have been tracking and mapping the displacement and needs of Iraqis from Mosul. According to figures from authorities, 100,000 people have crossed to Erbil using 16,000 cars and 200,000 have…