Displaced persons finding homes of their own

By Spc. Aaron Ritter

A television, radio and alarm clock sit in the corner of Dildar Hassan's living room, where they have sat for two months without power to operate. While he and his family cannot listen to their favorite song or watch the Kurdistan TV news, they have few complaints now that they have a new home to call their own.

Local government, non-governmental organizations and coalition forces are working together to assist families such as Hassan's in northern Iraq by helping them get a second chance at an improved lifestyle.

The families, recognized as Internally Displaced People, were forced from their homes between 1961 and the establishment of the no-fly zone after the First Gulf War in 1992.

During that time, Saddam Hussein's regime destroyed nearly 4,500 villages using chemical or conventional bombs on the villagers. To avoid being killed, many Kurdish families fled to nearby Turkey, Syria or Iran.

Musa Ali Bakrr is the chairman of the High Committee for IDPs and Refugees for the Dahuk governorate and is in the forefront of the fight for the Kurdish families.

He currently represents nearly 25,000 families or 160,000 individuals in the governorate who remain without homes."The wounds of the IDPs are very deep and the side effects are still ongoing," Bakrr said.

"After the 30 years of organized destruction of the Kurdish people, it will take nothing less than 60 years of organized reconstruction to repair the damage done.

"Bakrr said the attacks also destroyed the Kurdish family as an institution and any solution will require time, patience and a large budget.The IDPs currently live in nearly 325 structures throughout the Dahuk governorate known as public buildings. These include abandoned schools, office buildings and former military installations.

"It's not a good life and it's miserable here, but we have no other choice," said one woman living in Nizarke Castle, a former military outpost near Dahuk, which houses nearly 170 families. "Many kids get sick because of the lack of sanitation, electricity is a rarity and there is limited clean water. We just need basic public services.

"As many as 10 people live within a 20" x 20" room, while families share kitchen space, which often consists of a couple burners and a few dishes.To combat the homeless problems of the region, Bakrr's group is trying to provide homes in area villages, instead of using the same resources to fix up the public buildings."We should not make the existing places these people live in so attractive that it will discourage them from moving the family back into the home where it belongs," Bakrr said.

Assisting in Bakrr's efforts are soldiers of the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Norristown, Pa. The 11 Soldier contingent, located in Dahuk, is responsible for assisting the citizens in the governorate in rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure.

"We would like to rebuild these villages because each village we help restore means that many more people will be able to have homes," said Lt. Col. Kenneth Scarano, who oversees the 416th's operations in Dahuk.Scarano said the first priority for his team is to get projects approved that focus on providing basic services to the villages that the IDPs lack in their current living conditions.

"Our hope is that when we provide electricity, wells, schools and clinics, people will want to move back to their villages," he said. "So in the process of rebuilding villages, we're hoping to alleviate the homeless situation.

"Bakrr said even after the construction is complete, the villagers will still need help finding work and creating other ways to make the villages productive places to live.Through the help of the Coalition Provisional Authority and Mission East, a local NGO, nearly 150 houses have been erected for IDPs in three locations. Additional homes are still under construction while there are plans to construct many more in the future.

Those families who have been displaced the longest are given priority in receiving a house.

If chosen, the family receives full ownership of the house at no cost.Hassan and his family fled to Iran in 1975 and returned in 1997 homeless, forcing him to live with his brother before moving to one of the public buildings.

After being homeless for nearly two years and with the help of the local district government, he and his family have a new home."We moved into this house after living at Akrah Castle for two years and it has been a 180 degree change for my family," said Hassan of the home he received nearly two months ago.

"It's a much better place to raise my children."Bakrr said he is happy progress is being made, despite having little to no funding, but said the solution to the IDP problem is like a 100-story building, where nothing can be done until the first level is complete.

"I know we can't cover everything because the need is too high and what we have is limited so we are taking it one step at a time," Bakrr said.

"Starting buildings is easy but to change the minds of the people from one of concern to productivity is a much harder task."He said his office is not one that can perform the physical solution to the problem, but it is one that strives to be the voice for those who have no voice so that other people might get interested in helping this vulnerable group of people."Their voices have never been heard so clearly," he said.

"We're optimistic that if there is a will, there is a way. We just need others help to find us a way.

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