Iraq Protection Analysis Update

Several years after the end of the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant (ISIL), it is estimated that over 1,000,000 IDPs and returnees in Iraq remain without at least one key identity or civil document, including over 500,000 individuals who are missing two or more documents. As a result of the recent conflict, many documents were lost, damaged or destroyed, or otherwise confiscated by armed and security actors across Iraq. Some affected individuals only possess documents which were issued in ISIL-controlled areas and are not legally recognized by the authorities either in Federal Iraq (FI) or in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Some others remain unable to renew expired documents due to a combination of physical, administrative and/or financial barriers.

The Protection Analysis Update published by the Iraq Protection Cluster analyses the risk of identity and civil documentation, including Birth Certificate, being denied to conflict-affected individuals, with the aim to better inform the implementation of legal assistance programs and to support advocacy efforts at the policy level.