Date & location: 17-18 September 2007, Gardasin Camp near Aqra, 50 km from Mosul, Northern Iraq
Duration: 8'57'' mins
Producer: Kamel Zahiri
Source: ICRC – access all


Preview Iraq footage (RealMedia stream 56Kbs - 128kbs)

This report will be distributed free-to-air and rights free over the the Associated Press Television News satellites at 12.15 GMT and at 19:05 on Monday 31 October 2007.
For broadcast tapes and information on footage: Virginie Louis, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva,

Start at first frame

SHOTLIST

00 00 Gardasin Camp, north Iraq, On road to camp, with signboard
00 16 Inside camp, tents, people close-up children
00 50 Food being unloaded from lorries and given out by ICRC and IRCS
01 22 Interview

Tala'at Mohammed Sharif (Arabic), Director, IRCS chapter, Aqra, Gardasin Camp manager
"This camp was set up at end of June when many families came from Mosul,

they were all Kurds, and because of that they were threatened they were being killed because of their Kurdish identity."

01 37 Cutaway unloading lorry
01 40 Interview continues

"Day by day, we are providing services, and we are about to start a number of programmes, now that winter is coming, and the winter here is very harsh, so they'll need a lot of things. But God willing, we will make every effort, the Red Crescent and the Red Cross together, to get the things they need as soon as possible."

02 05 Internally displaced people sign for their rations, then take them away
02 47 People carrying supplies to tents
03 24 Woman rocking baby
03 28 Two girls making bread in outside oven
03 59 Interview

Khalid Faqi Katto (Kurdish) displaced person from Mosul

"I had to leave Mosul because they told me that we were Kurdish and they accused me of working for the Americans as a spy. They told us we were not permitted to live in Mosul so that's why we came here ."

04 07 cutaway hands
04 12 Interview continues

"We are afraid of the coming winter, because this place will be a swamp, and full of water. We don’t have work, so we cannot rent a house, we have no job so no money to pay the rent, so this is a great worry to us. "

04 32 Katto in tent with family – various
04 39 Katto washing his daughter at outside tap
04 59 Interview

Jouia Mohammed (Kurdish) displaced person from Mosul

"I left my house in Mosul because of the killing, because of the threats, my neighbour was killed so I had to leave my home."

05 06 with her family
05 14 interview continues

"It was a house that I had just built, I had only been living in it for 20 days before I had to abandon that place."

05 18 family inside tent
05 24 interview continues

"The children are not going to school, three of them used to go to school, but since we have been displaced here, three of them don’t go to school any more. The situation has been difficult for us for a long time, since the 1980s, and goes back to the Iraq-Iran war when the Kurds first had problems in Mosul."

05 47 Inside Jouia M's tent
05 54 Various shots of water provision in camp, including water points, taps with people using running water, washing, latrine blocks - all provided by ICRC
06 21 Woman washing her child
06 35 Child washing tomatoes at tap
06 42 Woman washing her face
06 47 Woman rocking baby in cradle with close-up
06 58 Women preparing vegetables
07 12 CU child
07 20 Interview

Béatrice Mégevand-Roggo ICRC Head of operations for the Middle East (English)

"Our dearest wish is that the security situation can improve, because this is the key to solving all the humanitarian problems in Iraq, or at least start tackling the humanitarian problems in a proper way. As long as insecurity is the way it is in Iraq today, there is no hope that a meaningful humanitarian operation can develop and that reconstruction and rehabilitation can take place."

"We can only put patches on problems in Iraq, we cannot have a comprehensive response and an approach that allow to really start solving the big problems for the people in Iraq."

"I think the main effect is that daily life becomes impossible. Very normal things that people have to do on a daily basis like going to a shop, going to the market, taking children to school, going to a hospital or a health centre, everything becomes incredibly difficult and dangerous. The danger is everywhere, and security wise, their life is a nightmare. And I think this is mostly what prompts people to leave their home and move and displace themselves, be it in Baghdad from one neighbourhood to another, because of the factional sectarian violence or from one province to another."

08 57 ENDS

Story

The humanitarian crisis in Iraq is worsening. Security in recent months has considerably deteriorated: thousands of families face the daily threat of bombings, shootings and military operations. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes after seeing relatives and neighbours being killed, or because they were under threat themselves.

Those who cannot find refuge with relatives or friends are forced to live in temporary camps which have sprung up across the country. Accurate figures are extremely difficult to come by, but according to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), two million people are now displaced within Iraq, while UNHCR indicates that another two million are refugees outside the country. Neighbouring countries are increasingly closing their borders to Iraqis, suggesting that the number of displaced seeking shelter within the country is unlikely to fall in the weeks to come.

Gardasin is one of several camps for the displaced in northern Iraq. It was set up in June 2007 to house Kurdish families fleeing sectarian violence and threats in the town of Mosul, 50 kilometres away. Nearly 1,000 people live in the camp, three-quarters of them women and children. It is set on a desolate plain, burning hot in summer, and with sub-zero temperatures in mid-winter. Several humanitarian agencies are providing tents, water and food. The ICRC has provided the water supply for the camp, installing pipes, taps and latrines. The families here do not have access to the monthly food distributions by local authorities and depend mainly on assistance from humanitarian organisations. The ICRC and the IRCS have handed out food, blankets and other basic supplies on two occasions. In this isolated location, few people have access to jobs, health care or schools for their children. As winter approaches, the ICRC is concerned that conditions in Gardasin are likely to get even worse. Solid floors and extra protection for the tents will be essential to withstand the cold.

Khalid Faqui Katto lives at Gardasin with his family of 17. He abandoned his house and job in Mosul when he was accused of spying for the Americans and threatened with violence. He is concerned about how his children will cope with winter but says he can never go back to Mosul.

Mrs Jouia Mohammed fled from Mosul just 20 days after moving into the house she had managed to build for herself and her family. She too is afraid to return having seen her neighbour murdered. The plight of these two Kurdish families is typical of people stranded in Gardasin.

While some help is reaching Gardasin, the rampant insecurity is preventing the ICRC from helping the displaced in many other parts of Iraq. Because of the risks, the organization cannot deploy international staff in much of the country. The ICRC relies heavily on the IRCS to carry out assistance work.

Beatrice Megevand Roggo, the ICRC's Head of Operations for the Middle East compares carrying out humanitarian work in Iraq to sticking a small plaster on a gaping wound, "Our dearest wish is that the security situation can improve, because this is the key to solving all the humanitarian problems in Iraq."