By Staff Sgt. Matt Meadows
4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq – Iraqi officials recently reported that nearly 3,000 Iraqi families have returned to their homes in 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad's operating environment of eastern Baghdad this year.
The 2,084 returning families left their homes in the Districts of Rusafa, Karadah and 9 Nissan due to security concerns. Categorized as Internally Displaced Persons, they have returned to a more secure and safe environment. As the Patriot Brigade nears the end of a 14-month deployment and leaves Baghdad, its Soldiers prepare to return home and are glad eastern Baghdad residents are able to do the same.
"We welcome these good citizens as they return to reclaim their homes," said Maj. Joey Sullinger, a 4th BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. spokesperson, from Branson, Mo. "We are happy to have assisted Iraqi Security Forces while we were here. We hope these returning residents fully embrace the Iraqi forces truly responsible for providing the safety and security, allowing them to come home to their neighborhoods."
Iraq's Ministry of Migrations and Displaced Persons is responsible for tracking IDPs and IDP returnees. They report the number of Iraqi citizens who register with IDP centers weekly. Lt. Col. Eric Holliday, deputy team leader of Baghdad-2 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team, from Orchard, Neb., said there is an IDP center in Rusafa that issues reports about homeowners returning to eastern Baghdad.
"Their job is to register all IDPs that have displaced into our area and also to register all returnees – those are IDPs that were displaced to other areas that are returning to their homes," explained Holliday, whose Army Reserve unit is the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade, based in Chicago. "They [returnees] receive a stipend from the government. It's been running somewhere around one million to three million dinars, which equates to about $1,000 to $3,000 per returnee."
To receive stipends and reclaim their homes, IDP returnees must register with the ministry and provide proof of ownership. Other forms of government support also are available to these citizens. Returning residents are eligible to seek employment through the government of Iraq's civil service district, even though the GoI did not specifically create the program to assist displaced persons. In addition, the MOMDP coordinates for ISF to assist homeowners in evicting squatters if they are living in the returnees' homes.
Holliday said the ePRT and Patriot Brigade Soldiers mostly monitor the IDP situation and track the GoI numbers of IDP returnees in their OE. Iraqi officials do a good job of helping IDPs and addressing their concerns, he commented. "In our area, we have had no incidents of any violence against returnees that I am aware of," he stated.
Although Patriot Brigade Soldiers merely monitor the IDP situation in their OE, the program is a measure of 4th BCT, 10th Mtn. Div.'s effectiveness. The results reflect security and other conditions within the OE.
"The more returnees we get back into the neighborhoods from where they were originally displaced tells us these people feel safe enough to return to those areas and they don't think there is going to be further violence," expressed Holliday. "When we have them return and we don't have any incidents of further violence ... then it has been fairly successful in our area. That is a measure of effectiveness telling us we are doing our job right."
Holliday said he enjoys his job as Baghdad-2 deputy e-PRT team leader, Along with 4th BCT, 10 Mtn. Div., they have done many good things.
"When you move around eastern Baghdad these days, you can see that things are better; there is better security," expressed Holliday. "People are out shopping; people are out in the parks, and people are moving on with their lives – and they have a better outlook on life."