Govt: Baghdad hosts highest number of refugee camps
Iraqi refugees (representational photo).
“The number of refugee camps in Iraq stands at 900,” according to a report by the government’s Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology. “The largest number of them is in the capital, Baghdad: 18 camps.” said the report which surveyed the number of births and deaths at refugee camps nationwide.
Out of those camps, 83 camps witnessed women giving birth to 6511 infants, with anbar recording the highest number of births with 2703 cases, followed by Kirkuk with 1041.
According to the report, though Baghdad contains the biggest number of camps, Anbar province shelters the highest number of refugees, with 86580 citizens counted, followed by Kirkuk with 36355 refugees.
Deaths were counted at 72 camps, according to the organization.
The Iraqi government says there are more than four million civilians internally displaced since Islamic State militants took over large areas of the country in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”.
A U.S.-backed security campaign the Iraqi government launched in October to retake the city has so far displaced more than half a million people. Upon the launch of the offensive, the United Nations predicted 1.5 million displaced persons.