In Kurdistan, Classes House Refugees as School Year Approaches

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Children in Duhok will not be returning to classes as scheduled next week because more than 600 schools in the northern Kurdish province are sheltering thousands of displaced Iraqi families.

Bashdar Sarbaz, an education ministry official in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said that for the rest of the Kurdistan Region the academic year will start as scheduled on next Wednesday.

However, as the reopening of classes fast approaches, schools in other areas of Kurdistan also remain occupied.

In Erbil, classrooms are shared between two to four families. Other families have spilled out into the hallways, where blankets have been hung from stacks of desks in an attempt at some privacy.

Sarbaz acknowledged that authorities are facing difficulties over how to relocate so many people in such a short period of time.

With nowhere else to go, the hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis that have poured into Kurdistan since June have found shelter across schools, churches, mosques, public parks and unfinished buildings, causing a shelter crisis.

According to the latest count, there are 1.4 million refugees in the Kurdistan Region, whose own local population is only about 5 million.

Last month the Ministry of Education declared an emergency due to the large number of schools occupied, Sarbaz confirmed.

To help move the situation forward, the UN children’s organization UNICEF facilitated a two-day conference in Erbil this week, along with the education directorates of the five most affected governorates – Anbar, Diyala, Nineveh, Salahaddin and Kirkuk.

The aim was to discuss the conundrum of occupied classrooms and the start of the school year, said Karim Elkorany, External Relations Manager for UNICEF in Iraq.

Not only will many of the nearly 200,000 displaced Iraqi children miss out on vital education this fall due to their circumstances, but children in host communities will also suffer, in addition to Syrian refugee children who have fled war over the border, said Aram Shakaram, Iraq Deputy Country Director of Save the Children.

There are conflicting reports on the number of occupied schools.

The KRG Ministry of Education reported over 700 schools are occupied, more than 640 of them in Duhok province alone.

UNICEF reported that half the KRG’s schools are occupied. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported that 2,000 schools throughout Iraq are occupied, but did not specify how many of them are in the Kurdistan region.

In Duhok province, the humanitarian situation is particularly grave. UNOCHA recently reported the area is hosting over 500,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), leaving local authorities overstretched in their ability to provide for those in desperate need.

“There are some areas where every school is being used to shelter families that fled violence,” Shakaram added.

Elkorany said the number of schools reportedly occupied continues to fluctuate, especially as IDP movements continue and further conflict erupts across Iraq.

The need to relocate the IDPs from schools has become urgent, particularly in Duhok.

“The KRG has discussed this urgent issue in the Council of Ministers and is making urgent plans for camp space identification and construction,” explained Korany. “Extensive plans are also being made to relocate IDPs as soon as shelter alternatives are ready.”

UNOCHA reported 14 new camp locations have been identified across the Kurdistan Region. Some existing camps will be expanded to accommodate more families.

Both community residents and IDPs sheltering in schools said they are suffering from a lack of information.

Mazen Farooq, a resident of Ainkawa district in Erbil, said his two children are enrolled at the Salaama Public School, which is currently providing refuge for 102 Christian families, most from Qaraqosh.

IDPs living at the school were told they could remain there until October 10, implying there would be a one-month delay in the school year.

They were not informed of what alternative shelter would be available after that date, adding further uncertainty to their already difficult conditions.