A decision by Iraqi authorities to close camps sheltering up to 100,000 displaced people will worsen a mental health crisis in which spiking suicide rates are disproportionately affecting women, experts and NGOs have warned.
Three years after the Iraqi government declared victory over the Islamic State terrorist group, the Ministry of Migration and Displaced People is eager to close camps for those displaced by the war, announcing in October a programme for the “safe and voluntary return” for hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
But closing these camps will exacerbate a deepening mental health crisis, NGOs warn.
“Many of the people in these camps are widows and families that have been neglected and outcast by their families for their connection with ISIS,” said Ekhlas Mohammed Ali, a psychiatrist from Mosul.