VZCZCXRO5083
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDH RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1803/01 1871231
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061231Z JUL 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3803
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001803 
 
SBU 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PGOV PREL PHUM IZ
SUBJECT: IDPS AND ECONOMIC MIGRANTS STUCK IN SLUMS ADJACENT 
TO SADR CITY 
 
Summary 
¶1. (U) USAID/OFDA,s program advisor in Iraq conducts regular 
field visits to locations of displacement and return to 
assess humanitarian conditions and identify areas of possible 
intervention by implementing partners.  On June 24 and 25 the 
program advisor met with residents of northeast Baghdad,s 
Hay Ur neighborhood, a vulnerable community adjacent to Sadr 
City inhabited largely by economic migrants and internally 
displaced persons (IDPs).  Hay Ur residents report the 
unlikelihood of returning to areas of origin due to 
demographic changes following sectarian violence, housing 
shortages and rising rents.  End summary. 
Background on Hay Ur 
¶2. (U) Thousands of IDPs and economic migrants have built 
illegal, informal settlements on government property in 
northeast Baghdad,s predominantly Shia Hay Ur neighborhood. 
U.S. military satellite imagery taken from 2003 to 2009 
illustrates that entire neighborhoods in the northernmost 
parts of Hay Ur are less than six years old and growing 
steadily.  The settlements are straining essential services 
and forcing the Government of Iraq (GoI) to choose between 
recognizing sprawling illegal settlements with little 
supporting infrastructure or evicting thousands of destitute 
families.  In several sub-neighborhoods of northern Hay Ur, 
including Kufa, Sheeshan, Kubra Ghazlan and Hawasams, most 
houses are constructed of cinderblock, mud and scrap metal. 
¶3.  (U) Residents report that people fleeing violence and 
overcrowding in adjacent Sadr City began settling in Hay Ur 
in 2003 and 2004 at a rate that has continued steadily to 
date.  Many of the conflict-affected IDPs currently residing 
in Hay Ur fled from predominantly Sunni areas of west 
Baghdad, including Abu Ghraib, Adhamiya and Ameriya.  About 
half of the residents who spoke to USAID/OFDA program advisor 
during a walk through Mahalla 329 (mahallahs are numbered 
subdivisions of neighborhoods; generally sub-neighborhoods 
are made up of two or more mahallahs) were economic migrants 
from Sadr City.  One area in Mahalla 341 is named Hawasams, 
an Arabic word unique to the Iraqi dialect meaning looted 
goods.  Priority needs in the area include improved access to 
drinking water, income generating projects and shelter 
support. 
Government Reluctant to Reward Squatters with Services 
¶4. (SBU) By illegally tapping into water and electric lines, 
squatters have further degraded the already limited 
infrastructure providing services to Hay Ur,s illegal 
neighborhoods.  U.S. forces report that the neighborhood 
council and the Amanat (which is responsible for providing 
essential services inside the city of Baghdad) have proven 
hesitant to improve services, which authorities perceive as 
increasing the likelihood of long-term settlement in the 
squatted areas.  Because most areas of Hay Ur, including 
legal residential zones, lack sewage networks, human waste 
gathers in open trenches in the street.  Residents report 
that local authorities do not remove waste from trenches, 
leaving it to seep into the ground water.  U.S. forces report 
that the local government also refuses to remove trash in 
illegal settlements, leading to trash heaps that attract 
stray dogs and rodents.  U.S. forces have responded by using 
Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds to pay 
military-aged Iraqi men to remove trash. 
¶5. (SBU)) Residents told USAID/OFDA staff that although 
children are allowed to register in public schools, the 
schools are in a state of disrepair and run two shifts due to 
overcrowding.  U.S. forces report that local authorities have 
Qovercrowding.  U.S. forces report that local authorities have 
poorly maintained CEPR-rehabilitated schools.  Because there 
is no hospital in the area, people with serious injuries are 
transported by taxi to adjacent Sadr City.  U.S. forces built 
a primary health care center in Hay Ur,s Mahllah 327 and 
report that the Ministry of Health has staffed the clinic. 
Although the ministry pays clinic staff, staff complain that 
the ministry fails to provide needed medical supplies. 
According to residents, most IDPs do not receive food 
rations, whereas economic migrants have generally transferred 
food rations to Hay Ur or travel to areas of origin once per 
month to receive rations. 
¶6. (SBU) Residents identified jobs and improved access to 
water as priority needs.  U.S. forces offered to provide CERP 
funding to dig a well n Mahallah 629, but the neighborhood 
council could not commit to maintaining the necessary 
filtration system. Local authorities are currently extending 
water lines from Sadr City across Hay Ur to Shaab, which is 
expected to improve access to water for some residents. 
¶7. (U) Residents reported that eight IDP families living in 
tents in Mahallah 329 recently left for unknown reasons, 
although neighbors reported that the departure was not due to 
forced eviction.  Approximately 40 families continue to squat 
in an abandoned warehouse adjacent to the Joint Security 
Station, which will remain open for the immediate future. 
Illegal Property Market Largely Non-Confrontational 
¶8. (SBU) Residents reported that the process of illegally 
acquiring land in the area is generally non-confrontational 
 
BAGHDAD 00001803  002 OF 002 
 
 
and that money does not typically change hands for empty 
plots of land.  For security reasons, many residents said 
they would only allow friends, family or acquaintances to 
move onto adjacent land.  Like many illegal neighborhoods in 
Baghdad, several structures bore &for sale8 signs, 
indicating a thriving illegal property market. (Comment: In 
previous years and even now in some parts of Baghdad, 
squatters are unable to build on vacant government property 
without paying off a local militia leader or other community 
figure.  Squatters who attempt to build without paying bribes 
in such areas are likely to be confronted with violence.  End 
comment.) 
New Residents Arrive Steadily, Current Residents Unlikely to 
Leave Voluntarily 
¶9. (U) Residents reported that squatters continue to build 
illegal houses in the area, and USAID/OFDA staff witnessed 
dozens of makeshift houses in various states of construction. 
 A local merchant selling building materials told USAID/OFDA 
staff that business has slowed slightly due to concerns that 
GoI authorities will evict squatters from the area, but that 
generally arrivals to the area continue apace. 
¶10. (U) IDPs reported that they are unlikely to return to 
areas of origin due to demographic changes, security concerns 
and lack of affordable housing.  Economic migrants were 
mostly from Sadr City and reported that they are unlikely to 
return because of overcrowding and lack of services in the 
area. 
Comment 
¶11. (SBU) Hay Ur,s illegal neighborhoods and similar IDP and 
squatter clusters throughout the country leave the GoI with 
two potential courses of action.  The first involves the 
eviction of poor squatters who in many cases have nowhere 
else to go in order to regain de facto control of the 
government land.  The second is to allow squatters to remain 
in place, which would provide tacit approval of illegal 
seizures of public property.  After a brief flurry of 
evictions in late 2008 and early 2009, the GoI declared a 
one-year moratorium on evictions from government property. 
In isolated cases, such as Al-Batool camp in northwest 
Baghdad and Al-Manathera camp in Najaf, the GoI paid IDPs and 
economic migrants sums ranging from $800 to $3200 in exchange 
for voluntarily leaving squatter settlements.  Budget 
constraints render similar payouts to other clusters 
unlikely.  Moreover, amid a severe housing shortage and 
skyrocketing rents that average at least $900 per month for a 
three bedroom house in Baghdad,s safest areas, such sums 
would not provide a durable solution for those who left 
squatter settlements voluntarily. 
¶12. (U) Comment continued: Following field visits, USAID/OFDA 
staff share findings on priority needs and possible 
interventions with the Ministry of Displacement and Migration 
and USAID/OFDA implementing partners with programs in the 
area.  Implementing partners respond depending on available 
funds and how proposed interventions fit with ongoing and 
planned activities.  End comment. 
HILL