How returning home can be a trial and error process for displaced people

Social Inquiry recently completed our first round of data collection with displaced Christians and Ezidis from Ninewa Governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as a result of the ISIL conflict. This data collection is part of a study exploring IDPs decision-making with regards to their displacement and there will be two more rounds of data to come later this year.

For this round, the majority (85%) of IDPs sampled report not having ever attempted to return to their places of origin at all (they may have visited it, but not with an intention to stay). However, a not insignificant 15% of IDPs have reportedly tried to settle back at some point in the past years but, for different reasons, displaced again. What is interesting about this attempted return, regardless of how successful it was, is its connection with positive IDP intentions to try it again in the short term. Specifically, more than half of IDPs who already attempted to return still indicate that they want to move back to their districts of origin within the next six months, while this option is only chosen by 17% of those that have no previous attempt to return.

This finding seems counterintuitive at first glance. Once return is unsuccessfully attempted, it would seem more likely that an individual would give up trying a second time or would run out of financial resources to do so again. Instead, we learn from this that rootedness to place of origin is important and a great driver for decision-making vis-à-vis willingness to return, even if they cannot or will not be able to do so quickly (more on rootedness in a different post soon). Return, indeed, can be a trial and error process.

Breaking down the results across the population groups in the study, we find that Christian IDPs who attempted to return mainly mentioned that they displaced again due to the lack of employment opportunities and services in their places of origin as well as not expecting to feel well psychologically there. This latter point is made clearly by a Christian IDP from Qaraqosh, regarding his return attempt: “Safety is almost back, and some of the [PMUs] have taken control of the area but it is breaking people's morale in general to settle in the region. Many of the people of the region leave Iraq to obtain a stable and secure life, as well as to search for a place that preserves human dignity.” Of the subset of Ezidi IDPs who attempted to return, the main reason they report for moving back or staying in their places of displacement is the lack of services (mainly healthcare and education) in their places of origin, followed by house destruction and concerns for security incidents, including clashes between armed actors.