Displacement, Migration, Return: From Emergency to a Sustainable Future

This is an output from a project that was part of the fifth Applied Research Fund (ARF) on mixed migration flows. The ARF is executed by NWO-WOTRO in close collaboration with the Platform. The call aims to strengthen the evidence-base for security and rule of law policies and programming, addressing the root causes, and the dynamics and consequences of mixed migration flows within and from fragile and conflict-affected settings.

While displacement has reached endemic proportions causing difficulties to the prospects of return in Iraq, the magnitude of Iraqis leaving abroad has also increased. This study asks the questions what is the relationship between displacement, migration and return in the context of Iraq? When and under what circumstances does displacement turn into migration (or return)? Answers to these questions can inform serious attempts to address displacement in and migration from Iraq. To address the relationship between displacement, migration and return, the research combined quantitative and qualitative analyses based on: (a) 500 questionnaires distributed among the IDP population in KRI between May and June 2017; (b) 30 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with IDPs in KRI between June and July 2017, over and above interviews with key informants; and (c) discussing preliminary results of the study during a workshop in Erbil on 23 July 2017 with local, national and international actors, including governmental and non‐governmental organizations.