The poor are suffering the most in the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul, Christian Aid warned late last week.
Christian Aid has been involved in distributing food to some of the more than 69,000 people who have fled their homes since fighting began last month. Madara Hettiarachchi, Christian Aid’s head of humanitarian programmes for Asia and the Middle East, says that while all those they encounter are affected, “the poor are the most vulnerable”.
“They are often the last to leave unstable places and will take the longest to recover,” she said. “The families we met have lost everything – homes and livelihoods – some left family members behind and many have lost loved ones. In the battle for Mosul some have been used as human shields, and many have lost loved ones through mortars, shelling and shrapnel. Every time an ambulance comes into a camp, they rush to see if it is family or friends. They said they have been through a lot in their lives but never been treated this badly before.”
Meanwhile Rob Wainwright, Christian Aid’s country manager for Iraq, said that airstrikes have targeted Islamic State (IS) positions such as army depots or Sharia courts, people who lived in surrounding areas and were not able to flee could be exposed to danger.
“We were told an extended family of 17 – all of them civilians, children and elderly – were killed in this way,” he said. “With fighting now on their doorstep adults and children are in the line of fire.”
Mr Wainwright said many people Christian Aid workers spoke to complained about the way militias behaved and had arbitrarily detained people on “fabricated charges” and then blackmailed other family members to get them released in exchange for bribes.
“Many Bedouin communities we spoke to from the outskirts of the city had lost hundreds of sheep to militias who looted their property once they left their homes,” he added. “After losing their income and with homes destroyed in the fighting, all they can do is wait for the fighting to end and face an uncertain future. In the confusion and chaos of this conflict, one thing is painfully clear. The poor suffer the most.”
The UK-based organisation has called on the international community to provide funding to help “prevent another humanitarian catastrophe” and, as well as assisting those recently displaced, remember those who have been displaced from their homes for the last two years. They also called for all parties to the fighting to guarentee the protection of civilians and respect international law to allow safe passage for those who have been trapped in the city and seeking to flee.
