Iraqis rebuilding lives in war-torn areas

AL-BAYA, Iraq | Mustapha Eleiwi Jasem stood on the fringe of this village along the Diyala River and stared at the destruction. Nearby was a flattened clump of concrete - the remains of what once had been his home - and the flimsy, torn tent in which he and his family now live.

In the distance, in his mind’s eye, was the life the farmer hopes to reclaim.

With U.S. troops due to pull out of Iraqi cities in a week amid periodic spurts in terrorist attacks, Iraq faces the task of resettling hundreds of thousands of refugees in the neighborhoods they fled to escape sectarian attacks.

“We had to run away because of the violence in the area,” Mr. Jasem said. “Al Qaeda was killing people, and you could [also] get killed by government soldiers while in the field because they didn’t know who you were.

“We were strangers there,” in Baqouba, the provincial capital where Mr. Jasem and his family sought shelter for a year. “It was hard for us to live and work. Here we are home … it’s hard … things will get better.”

Until three months ago, Mr. Jasem, 49, was considered an internally displaced person (IDP), a term used by international aid groups because he remained in Iraq.

The Switzerland-based International Organization for Migration (IOM), an agency with 125 member states and offices in more than 100 countries, says about 1.6 million IDPs remain in Iraq.

The heaviest concentrations of IDPs are in Baghdad; Diyala province, just northeast of Baghdad; and Ninevah province, which includes the northwestern city of Mosul.

Many, if not most, fled their homes in 2006, when Sunni-Shi’ite violence drove the country to the brink of civil war.

Cities, towns and villages were torn apart by gunbattles, kidnappings and killings. Iraqi and U.S. military pushes against sectarian militias, insurgent groups and terrorist cells added to the number of refugees.

Security in the country as a whole, and in Diyala province, is far better today, allowing many refugees to return or make plans to do so.

Nearly 37 percent of returnees surveyed by the IOM cited improved security as the main reason for their decision to return to their homes. An additional 36.7 percent cited difficult conditions of life as a refugee in addition to the improved security.

In Diyala province — some parts of which are still very volatile — there were nearly 400 significant hostile acts from the beginning of January to the end of April, according to a U.S. military spokesman. That includes nearly 320 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 180 of which were found and cleared before causing death or damage, according to the U.S. military.

In comparison, there were nearly 1,000 significant acts of violence in Diyala province during the corresponding period of 2008, said Maj. Derrick Chen, a public affairs officer with the 25th Infantry Division.

Iraq continues to suffer periodic spikes in violence, including a series of attacks that killed more than 100 people across the country this week. But Tuesday was relatively quiet, according to wire service reports.

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