Heavy rains exacerbate conditions in IDP camp
(23 Oct 2014) LEADIN Continuous heavy rains in northern Iraq have led to unbearable living conditions in a camp housing internally displaced Iraqis. Now there are worries that the coming winter will bring more hardships for those who have been forced to flee their homes. STORYLINE A UN tent inundated with water; rubbish swims in puddles as people squelch through ankle deep puddles and mud. This is the pitiful sight at the Baharka Camp - home to more than 4,500 internally displaced people (IDPs). It's been raining for a week here - and with little to no drainage systems in place, the water has nowhere to go. The camp, which is on the outskirts of Irbil in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq, houses Iraqis, mainly from Mosul, who fled the advance of Islamic State militants in the summer. Yahya Makhmour Youssef is busy shovelling mud from his tent. For weeks, it's kept the canvass structure in place. But now it's time to move on. "Yes, it's dangerous. Because the children get sick because of all this water. And because of that we need to move," says the 38-year-old from Mosul. His neighbour, Mohammed Ahmed, is also leaving to find another spot in the camp. He's been forced to switch off the electrical supply as a massive pool of water spreads dangerously close to his tent. "It's a very hard situation and you can see what happens here. Our children sleep in the mud. They're getting sick. Since yesterday they've been in hospital. Look at the mud, we're sitting on mud," Ahmed says. Inside the tent the children can barely walk through the sludge. 40-year-old Ramadan Haji, who's also from Mosul, wades through a sea of muddy water to his tent "Look, since yesterday we haven't slept inside our tent," he says, pointing inside the sodden structure. "This is where we sleep. This is the way we have to sleep. Since yesterday we haven't slept," Haji says as he splashes the water with his feet. His family's supply of cooking utensils lies miserably in a pool of brown water. Elsewhere in the camp children play in the rainwater - a game that is concerning officials from the International Medical Corps (IMC), who run health programmes in the camp. Dr. Branko Dubajic says the biggest threat to the people here is when rain waters, sewerage and drinking waters mix. "As you noticed yourself the hygiene conditions are bad and there is a possibility of mixing the water which people are drinking and the sewage water together which can increase threats against the dangerous infectious diseases related to the poor sanitation," he explains. Educational programmes are being run at the camp to teach IDPs of correct sanitation procedures. But more importantly, Dubajic says, is the need for adequate housing structures before the onset of winter. "I think the new shelter containers are arriving soon to the site. This is the major issue because the winter is just starting," he says. For now, there's nothing the residents of Baharka Camp can do - besides hope that the rain will stop falling and the upcoming winter isn't too harsh. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
