Background and context
In September 2007 DRC took over activities in three southern governorates, namely Wassit, Mayssan and Kerbala close to the border to Iran.
Displacement
All governorates are Shiite dominated and has as such received a high number of IDPs fleeing Baghdad and surrounding areas. Security in these relatively rural and homogenous parts of Iraq is good compared to Diyala and Basra.
Maysan district: 1,1 million people live in Maysan and about 113,000 of them are displaced. They were displaced due to the Iraq-Iran war or due to the persecution of Shiite muslims in the region. Due to the recently growing tensions between Shia and Sunni muslims in Central and Northern governorates, 39.500 more people have fled to Maysan. Another 5,500 people have returned the district from their refuge in other countries.
Kerbala district: The total population is 850,000 and has received 110,000 people that have fled from central Iraq. 2,500 families have returned from abroad and the sectarian violence in 2006 displaced 40,000 more in the district.
Wassit district: The population in Wassit is about 1 million and at least 12.000 people were displaced before 2006. There is probably a substantial number of returned refugees from Iran, but there is no information on exact numbers. Around 55,000 people were displaced in 2006, and still are.
Babylon district: Babylon has become an increasingly important centre for IDPs fleeing from Baghdad due to a shared provincial border. However, this also makes it prone to spillovers of violence from Baghdad itself, and thus the northern area is much more unstable than the rest of the governorate. The total population is 1,615,565 with 8,850 individuals displaced before 2006 and 12,677 after.
Thi-Qar district: Most IDPs in Thi Qar were displaced in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion. Out of the total population of 1,616,226 individuals, the estimated number of IDPs from before 2006 is 5,166 and an additional 18,351 internally displaced persons from after 2006.
Humanitarian needs
Among the most pressing needs of the displaced population in the region are access to shelter, employment, food and water supplies.
