Arbajiyah district, Mosul, 19...

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Arbajiyahdistrict,Mosul,19NovemberOver the last severalmonthswe’ve seen significant percentages– often themajority – of townand village

populations to the southofMosul choosing to remain in theirhomes in the run-up to the ISFadvanceandduring the battle itself. The reasons aremany, but generally speaking thosewho remain do so because of

concernfortheirpropertyand/orlivelihoods,thedangersofbeingcaughtescapingorcaughtinthecrossfire,fearsoverhowtheywillbereceivedbysecurity forcesorhostpopulations,andconcernsaboutwherethey

willendup–particularlythelivingconditionsinIDPcamps–andwhentheywillbeallowedtoreturn.

ThebattleforMosuliscomplexandongoing;districtsthathaveofficiallybeenbroughtunderISFcontrolarestillclosetothecombatzoneandvulnerabletocounterattack;thereforetheyremaindifficultforhumanitarian

organisations toaccess safely.A severedegradationof securityor a complete lackofessential servicesandprovisionsmaystillcausefurtherdisplacementinretakenareasamongcommunitieswhich,uptothispoint,

havebeendeterminedtostayintheirhomes.

Itwasreportedthat families inMosulcityhavebeenstockpilingprovisionssuchas food,waterand fuel forsometime.However, thesesuppliesareeitherspentordwindling,particularlyas somehouseholdsarealso

supporting IDP families from other parts of Mosul and elsewhere. Humanitarian partners that are able toprovide emergency relief in newly retaken areas of the city are naturally highly valued by the resident

population.However,despite this reliefbeingextremely important, thedistributionofaid in insecureareasposesarisktothepopulation,thesecurityservices,andthedriversandworkersdeliveringanddistributingthe

aid.Italsoposesclearprotectionconcerns.

Arbajiyahdistrict

ISIS reportedly left Arbajiyah district on 8 November, but fighting continues in the adjacent districts of AsSihhahandAnNuronly a few streets away. ISISwerealso reported tohave counterattacked in thedistrict

earlythefollowingweek.

InsomedistrictsofeasternMosulmultiplefamiliesaresaidtobelivingineachhouse(weweretoldthatAsSihhah has up to 8 families in each house). There are IDP families living in Arbajiyah,mostly fromparts of

Mosulfurtherwest,andaroundhalfthepopulationofthedistricthasgonetoeithertheHasanshamorKhazircamps.Itwasdifficulttogetaprecisefigureonthis–anotherestimatewasthat70%haveleft,butcertainlyaverysignificantnumberremain.

Civilianscarryingawhiteflag,crossingtheopenspacebetweenSamahandArbajiyah.

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Mosulmapshowingdistricts.(Takenfrominternet–RisewillsoonbeproducingamaponMosul)

Most people in Arbajiyah have relatives who have gone to the camps and with whom they are incommunication.Themajorityareadvisedbytheirrelativestostay inMosul.Theyarenervousto leavetheir

property and have been told of overcrowded, undignified conditions in the camps. Although everyone wespoke to said that Arbajiyah was still very unsafe, the majority of people that remain there seemed

determinedtostay.TheyhavealreadystayedintheirpropertyforyearsunderISISandduringthebattlefortheirdistrict.Thereisalsolittleinformationonwhencivilianswillbepermittedtoreturntotheirhomesshould

theyleave.

FooddistributionOn the afternoonof 19November, theMinistry ofMigration andDisplacement (MOMD) conducted a food

distributionof1,000largeboxescontainingrice,pasta,sugar,lentils,babyformula,tea,beans,flour,andoil.MOMDcoordinatewiththeISFwhotellthemhowmuchfoodisneededineachretakendistrict.1,000boxes

wererequestedfortheArbajiyahdistrict,soMOMDrespondedwiththatnumber.

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ContentsofoneMOMDfoodbox.

FromGogjalithefourMOMDtrucksdrovealongdirtroadsonaroutethroughSamah,acrossanopenareaandthenintoArbajiyah.ThereisstilladangerofsnipersinthisopenzonebetweenSamahandArbajiyah.

InArbajiyahthetruckswereparkedinaclean,emptystreet.Crowdsbegantogatherpeacefullyatthetopof

thestreetwheretheywereheldbackbytheISF(withoutuseofforce)andtoldtosplitintomenandwomen.Children were among both groups. Small groups were then allowed to walk forward into the street in an

orderlymanner,wheretheyapproachedadeskandpresentedapaperwhichwasstampedbyMOMDstaff.Theythenwenttocollecttheirbox. Peopleusuallyhelpedtheelderlywomencarrytheirbox(es)outofthe

street.

ThetruckscarryingMOMDsupplies(250boxesineach)wereescortedbytheISFtoaquiet,cleanstreet.

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Crowdsgatheringatthetopofthestreetandorganisedqueuesatthetrucks.Atthetopofthestreetthecrowdswereinthehundreds.OneISFsoldiercommentedthathedidnotfeelsafe.

Thecommunityhasbeensecurityscreened–theirnameshavebeencheckedagainsta listofsuspectedISISmembers–butunlike ina villagewherepeople knowand canvouch foreachother, it is fareasier for ISIS

memberstoinfiltratecitycommunitiesunnoticed.

Throughoutthedaytherewasagreatdealofexcitementamongtheresidents–asfarasweareaware,thiswasthefirstmajordistributionof food inthedistrict.Fromtimetotime, ISFpersonnelwouldshootrounds

intotheairtohelpkeepthecrowdundercontrol.

TheISFmanagedtokeepthedistributionrunninginarelativelycalmandorganisedmanneruntiltowardstheend,whenthecrowdsomehowbrokethroughatthetopofthestreetandmanypeoplerushedtowardsthe

trucks carrying the food boxes. The ISF never fully regained control, despite shooting into the air withincreasedfrequency.Itwasafairlychaoticendtowhathad,forthemostpart,beenapeacefuldistributionin

tensecircumstances.Noonewashurt,althoughlargenumbersofciviliansseemedtoarrivetoolatetocollectafoodbox.

PriorityneedsPeople’smainneedsarefood,waterandfuel.Thereisnoelectricityormedicine.Seriousinjuriesaretakento

thenearby ISFmedical station inGogjaliand thenon tohospital fromthere ifnecessary.Peoplehavebeenlivingofffoodstockswhichhavenearlyorcompletelyrunout.Somesmallmarketsexist inpeople’shouses,

but their stocks are low andnot easy to replenish.Hygiene productswere also identified as amajor need.Mostpeoplewespoketodidnothavemoneytospend.Thereisnomainswaterandpeoplearelivingoffthe

contentsofwatertanks,whicharenowverylow.ThereisabrokenpipeintheopenareabetweenSamahandArbajiyahwheresomepeoplecollectwaterinjerrycans,butatthemomentthisareacarriesariskofsnipers

(althoughnoincidentsofsniperstargetingciviliansinthisareawerereported).

SecurityandrecommendationsDuringthedistribution,whichlastedforaround2½hours,frequentgunfirecouldbeheardnearbyandatone

point there was a large explosion a few streets away. As the residents of Arbajiyah said, although theirneighbourhoodisunderISFcontrol,itremainsunsafe.IncoordinationwiththeISF,MOMDarewillingtobring

support tocommunities in retakenareas inMosul city,but fornow–exceptingGogjali– theyareamongaverysmallnumberofpartnerswhoare.TheArbajiyahpopulationexpresseddeepgratitudeforthisalthough,

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asmentionedearlier,theassociatedrisksaresignificant.AstheadvanceintoMosulcontinues,thesecurityofretaken areas in the east of the city is expected to improve. For now, however, NGOs considering

implementingemergencyreliefinretakenareassuchasArbajiyahshouldbeawareofthesignificantrisksandrelatedprotectionconcerns.

Above:Cloudfromnearbyexplosion.Below:Thebottomofthestreetwasemptywithverylittlevisiblesecurity.

GogjaliandtheIDPjourneytoHasansham/Khazir

WehaveheardcontradictoryreportsaboutthenumbersofMosulIDPsstayinginGogjaliandthepercentageofremaineeswithinthehostcommunity.

IDPsarereportedlypermittedbytheISFtocomefromdistrictswithinMosulcitytotheoutersuburbofGogjalibetweenthehoursof8amand5pm.Theyusuallycarryawhiteflagtoshowthattheyarecivilians.Lastweek

wewereinformedthattherewasanISFcheckpointattheentranceofGogjaliwhereIDsarebrieflycheckedandmenarepaddeddownforhiddenweapons.Wewereunabletogetaconfirmationthat thischeckpoint

exists,althoughit’sexpectedthatit’samobilecheckpoint.

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ThereisasteadystreamofIDPscomingoutofMosultoGogjali.IDPsarecollectedatamusterpointneartheoutskirtsofnorth-westernGogjali–aschoolneartheopen-airISF

medicalcentre.Civiliansarealsotreatedatthiscentre.

Themusterpointisalsoascreeningcentre.WewitnessedIDPs’identitypapersbeingcheckedbytheISFandtwo separate incidentswherebymen suspectedof beingmembers of or collaboratingwith ISISwere taken

awayforfurtherquestioning. Oncetheir IDshavebeenchecked,civiliansare loadedontoISFtransportandtakentothePeshmergacheckpointattheHamdaniyahjunction.Heretheyaretransferredintonewtransport.

TheirIDsaretakenawaybytheAsayish,checked,andreturned.Furthersecuritychecksarereportedtotakeplaceatorbeforeciviliansaretakentooneof theHasanshamorKhazircamps. It isnotknown if there isa

process for sponsorship in Gogjali whereby IDPs can stay with members of the host community, but it isexpectedthatthereis.

Driving through Gogjali, large numbers of civilians (men, women and children) gathered on themain road

beganchasingtrucksthatappearedtobecarryingfoodorothersupplies.Theycontinuedchasingthesetrucksthroughthenarrowstreets.

IDPsattheHamdaniyahjunction,waitingtobetakentooneoftheHasanshamorKhazircamps.