The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) embarked on a new research programme in December 2018 to investigate internal displacement associated with slow-onset environmental change. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the IDMC is one of the world’s most important sources of data and analysis on internal displacement. In February 2020 it published a report exploring the displacement...
It’s been one year since the city of Basra was rocked by large-scale protests following a major pollution crisis in which citizens decried the lack of access to fresh water and services. Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch released an extensive report on the crisis. One year onward, Save the Tigris Campaign traveled to the...
Human Rights Watch July 22, 2019 Report Basra is Thirsty Iraq’s Failure to Manage the Water Crisis Iraqi authorities have failed to ensure for almost 30 years that Basra residents have sufficient safe drinking water, resulting in on-going health concerns, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The situation culminated in an acute...
On 17 October 2018, a civil society Fact-Finding Team revealed serious human rights violations against citizens in Basra for their participation in this past summer’s protests. These findings correspond with Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights, which found that between 1 August and 7 September, 20 people were killed, 492 people were injured (including 80...
Mustafa Saadoun, Al Monitor, August 31 2018 BASRA, Iraq — Human rights advocates and health officials estimate that 17,000 to 18,000 residents of Basra province have been poisoned by heavily polluted and salty drinking water. On Aug. 26, hundreds of residents stormed the Basra Health Directorate to protest the poor health services provided to those made ill, but relief is...
Iraqi civil Society Solidarity Initiative 18th July 2018 Iraqis have been demonstrating for days in immense protests across southern Iraq—in Basra, Nasiriyah, Amarah, Kut, Karbala and Najaf—demanding basic services and rights, including water, electricity, and jobs. The frequency of demonstrations targeting oil fields, ports and airports, and the headquarters of political parties has mounted in...
Demands to establish a cell of crisis to face Ilisu Dam Basra, March 2014 A group of civil activists in Basra, celebrated the World Water Day, on the 22 of March. activists shed light on Iraq’s water problems in general, and the water crisis in Basra in particular. They expressed their concerns over the deterioration...
By Toon Bijnens Basra, Iraq The Save the Tigris Campaign participated on 15 and 16 February in an international workshop in Basra, entitled “Basra Water Crisis, Shatt al-Arab Increasing Salinity and Measures to Control”, organized by the University of Basra in collaboration with the Province of Basra, under the patronage of the Basra Governor Dr....
Last week, the Save the Tigris Campaign held seminars in four provinces in South Iraq: Basra, Missan, Dhi Qar and Qadissiya with the support of local civil society and activists. The seminars were held in Basra, on June 27th, Amara on June 28th, Nasirya, on June 29th and Diwaniya, on June 30th. The southern provinces...
Iraq faces enormous challenges in terms of water resources. Once the cradle of civilizations, an agricultural haven, now Iraq’s land has dried significantly mostly due to man-made causes. For the past 20 years upstream dams in the Euphrates have reduced Iraq’s water income, and now the most important water lifeline in the country, the Tigris...
