United Nations: Emergency in Iraq
According to an August 14th BBC report, the United Nations has declared the situation in Iraq the highest level of emergency, a label that is currently given only to the situations in Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, and the Central African Republic (BBC). This statement comes as ISIS continues to not only expand in Iraq, but also because of their killings against civilians. It is said that over 150,000 refugees alone have made it to the Dohuk providence in Northern Iraq. This is just a small percentage to the total number of those having to leave their homes, which is said to be at 1.2 millions persons. Furthermore, thousands of Yazidi are still stranded on Mt. Sinjar because of a fear of the ISIS if they come down. While it seems that the United States military forces, after assessing the situation, are not going to go to the mountain and take the citizens out, aid is still being dropped in to those individuals.
The declaration of this level of emergency is important since, as it states in the article,
“The declaration by the UN of “Level 3 Emergency” would “facilitate mobilisation of additional resources in goods, funds and assets to ensure a more effective response to the humanitarian needs of populations affected by forced displacements”, said UN special representative Nickolay Mladenov.”
Hopefully the international community will coordinate relief efforts to ensure that refugees and those displaced have the sufficient nutrition and medicine needed, and that they are physically protected from the ISIS fighters. It is crucial to find a way to help to protect the Yazidi people on the mountain, as well as all others in Iraq. We are seeing some manifestations of outside support, as the article points out that
“The US has…continued to conduct air strikes on IS targets in Iraq’s north. [Furthermore], France says it will arm Iraq’s Kurds, who are already getting US military aid to fight IS. Meanwhile, the UK has pledged to join a rescue mission for displaced civilians.”
It cannot be stressed enough that this is a horrible situation, and one that needs a full commitment from states and international organizations in order to ensure the safety of every refugee, IDP, and citizen in Iraq.
