Behind the Mosul relief effort: compassion and coordination

Zenaba, her husband and their three children escaped with only the clothes they were wearing, crossing the battle lines before being bussed to the camp. Iraqi Red Crescent staff and volunteers are working in the Khazer camp, providing food, relief supplies and psychosocial support to families who have fled Mosul and surrounding towns. The camp can accommodate some 6,000 families.

By Joe Cropp, IFRC in Erbil, Iraq

With photos by Safin Ahmed, IRCS, and Stephen Ryan, IFRC

Walking down a line of tents with Rashawan is like walking through a village. The Iraqi Red Crescent disaster management coordinator seems to know everyone in the relief camp east of Mosul. He waves hello to people, addressing them by name, asking what they need most. He makes extra time to speak to those with specific problems — an elderly man with a disability, a woman with severe curvature of the spine — and new arrivals from communities around the besieged city.

He stops to chat with Zeneba — who arrived the previous day — and asks after her family. There is a gentleness in the big man’s voice that shows his genuine compassion for the mother of three and an obvious desire to do whatever he can to help.

Some of the families who have fled the fighting in Mosul and surrounding towns have found safety in the Khazer camp near Erbil. Almost empty at the moment with some 250 families, the camp can accommodate 6000 families, or 30,000 people.

Rashawan’s compassion for these families and his understanding of their plight comes through his own experience of being displaced by war. He was forced to flee his home in Erbil some 20 years ago when another internal conflict raged. He travelled to Turkey and then Russia, before settling in the Netherlands as a refugee. He lights up when talking about his adopted home. “I love that country; its culture, its music, its people. They’ve been very good to me.”

Rashawan returned to Iraq in 2011 to care for his mother, and began working for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society in Erbil. “When I see the people in these camps I remember my own journey. I’ve seen how displacement can affect people, families, children.”

Holding out each hand, he explains how operating a camp like this requires a mix of compassion and coordination. “I remember what worked well, what made the most difference. Our humanity brings us together; administration makes it work.”

Iraqi Red Crescent Society staff and volunteers register new arrivals at the Khazer camp, where they are providing food, relief supplies and psychosocial support to families who have fled Mosul and surrounding towns. The camp can accommodate some 6,000 families, some 30,000 people.

As coordinator of the reception desk at the camp, Rashawan was there when Zenaba arrived by bus with her husband and three small children. Zenaba and her family had stayed in their house while fighting passed through her village outside Mosul. Government forces took them to buses to make the 10-kilometre journey to one of the newly established camps. The family immediately received food and basic supplies from the Iraqi Red Crescent before being assigned one of the camp’s 6,000 tents.

“We are so lucky we are now in a safe place.” Zenaba relaxes with her husband and three small children after reaching the safety of a camp for people displaced by the fighting around Mosul. The family escaped with only the clothes they were wearing, crossing the battle lines before being bussed to the camp. Iraqi Red Crescent Society staff and volunteers are working in the Khazer camp, providing food, relief supplies and psychosocial support to families who have fled Mosul and surrounding towns.

The camp, about 50 kilometres east of Mosul, can accommodate 30,000 people, and provides clean water, toilets and healthcare facilities. Rashawan’s team of Iraqi Red Crescent volunteers is there every day, providing families with essential supplies, such as blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans and cooking sets.

At Dibagah camp, Iraqi Red Crescent Society works with its partners to try to provide assistance to people who desperately need it. As fighting in and around Mosul intensifies, Iraqi Red Crescent Societies teams are preparing for the need to provide assistance to up to a million people.

Others provide emotional support to families traumatised by war and displacement. Rashawan says these local volunteers are central to the response. “They’ve been working here since before this crisis started and know these communities well. They are their neighbours, friends and families.”

Iraqi Red Crescent Society staff and volunteers at work in the Khazer camp, where they are providing food, relief supplies and psychosocial support to families who have fled Mosul and surrounding towns. The camp can accommodate some 6,000 families, or 30,000 people.