IFRAME: https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-P2F4R8C Wrong site? We have redirected you to a site for your country, if this was not correct, please use the link to go back. Go back Hide * Press room * Corporate partners * Careers * Tenders * Contact us * Norwegian ____________________ (BUTTON) Search 0 SUPPORT US Search (BUTTON) Menu (BUTTON) * Who we are + o About us o Our impact o Accountability o Innovation o Finances + o Work with us o Leadership o Secretary General Jan Egeland o Corporate partnerships o Partners and donors * What we do NRC works to protect the rights of displaced and vulnerable persons during crisis. Read more about us. + o Activities in the field o Camp management o Education o Information, counselling and legal assistance o Livelihoods and food security o Shelter and settlements o Water, sanitation and hygiene promotion + o Themes in the field o Strengthening protection o Preserving the environment o Addressing gender issues o Cash-based interventions o Supporting youth + o Speaking up for rights o Internal displacement o Humanitarian access o Humanitarian principles o Urban displacement o Housing, land and property rights o Disaster and climate change * Where we work + o Africa # Burkina Faso # Cameroon # Central African Republic # Djibouti # DR Congo # Eritrea # Ethiopia # Kenya # Libya # Mali # Niger # Nigeria # Somalia # South Sudan # Sudan # Tanzania # Uganda + o Americas # Colombia # Ecuador # El Salvador # Honduras # Panama # Venezuela o Asia # Afghanistan # Bangladesh # Myanmar + o Europe # Ukraine o Middle East # Iran # Iraq # Jordan # Lebanon # Palestine # Syria # Yemen + o Representation Offices o Head Office - Oslo o NRC Europe - Brussels o NRC Flüchtlingshilfe - Berlin o NRC Geneva o NRC UK - London o NRC USA - Washington, DC * NORCAP NORCAP is a global provider of expertise to the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding sectors. We build partnerships with international organisations and national actors to protect lives, rights and livelihoods. NORCAP is a part of the Norwegian Refugee Council. NRC.NO/NORCAP + o About NORCAP o What we do o Our Expertise o How to join NORCAP o Stories from the field + o Partners and donors o How to request experts o Resources o Contact o Member login + o NORDEM * News * Resources * Press room * Corporate partners * Careers * Tenders * Contact us * Norwegian [svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 600 200'%2F%3E] Read caption Hana, mother of seven children, fled Hawija in 2017 as the Iraqi government retook the city, one of the last remaining IS strongholds, to a displacement camp in Kirkuk governorate. Intelligence officials confiscated her civil documentation after she arrived in the camp. "My husband joined IS while the group was in control, but he died in an airstrike with my eldest son in 2017," she says. Now she and her children are alone and unable to leave the camp, barred from attending school and denied access to healthcare and social welfare. Photo: Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC * Name was changed for protection concerns. New report: 45,000 children may become stateless in post-IS Iraq Published 30. Apr 2019|Edited 29. Apr 2019 Iraq An estimated 45,000 displaced children in camps are missing civil documentation and may face total exclusion from Iraqi society: barred from attending school, denied access to healthcare and deprived of their most basic rights, the Norwegian Refugee Council warns today in a new report. “We face a possible human time-bomb. Allowing these children to have an education, healthcare, simply the right to exist, is key to ensuring a sustainable future for them and for the country,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. “A society cannot be at peace if it allows a generation of stateless children in its midst.” The report ‘Barriers from Birth’ found that children born under IS rule were issued birth certificates by the group that are considered invalid in the eyes of the Iraqi government. Others lost their documentation as they fled. Without a valid birth certificate, one health official reported that newborns are unable to receive vaccinations in some areas, raising fears of new diseases. Children’s enrolment in Iraqi schools also requires ID. Sitting exams or obtaining graduation certificates is often not allowed without civil documentation. As they reach adulthood, these children risk being denied state recognized marriages, owning property or even being formally employed. The chance of obtaining civil documentation is nearly impossible for children from families accused of IS affiliation, resulting in the collective punishment of thousands of innocent children. “Children are not responsible for crimes committed by their relatives, yet many are denied their basic rights as Iraqi citizens,” said Egeland. The number of undocumented children will increase significantly in the coming weeks with the expected return of more than 30,000 Iraqis from Syria, 90 per cent of whom are wives and children with suspected ties to IS militants. As the Iraqi government and the international community continue to invest in restoring public services and institutions, it is critical to ensure communities most affected by the conflict with IS — many of whom are children — have the documents required to benefit from these services. This will guarantee Iraq’s road to recovery and reconstruction. “Undocumented children risk remaining left on the margins of society if this issue is not addressed immediately. This seriously undermines future prospects of reconciliation efforts,” Egeland added. “We urge the government to ensure that undocumented children have the right to exist like any other Iraqi citizen.” For editors: * The full report ‘Barriers from Birth: Undocumented children in Iraq sentenced to a life on the margins’ can be downloaded here. * Photos and B-roll can be downloaded for free use and distribution. Key facts and figures: * 1,7 million Iraqis are still displaced, including around 450,000 in camps. * An estimated 870,000 children are still displaced across Iraq including 225,000 in camps. * It can take between 6 month – 2 years to obtain/retrieve civil documentation for children born under IS rule. * NRC has helped issue nearly 8,000 legal identity and civil documents for children affected by the conflict with IS in Iraq since 2016. * About 80,000 households across Iraq may have family members missing at least one form of ID. The total number of children may be even higher. * The most complicated cases— children whose parents are undocumented, are on one of the government’s security databases or are perceived to be affiliated with IS—are almost impossible to help. NRC legal teams receive on average 170 requests for help from cases like this each month across the country. Related news Iraq | 09. Nov 2020 Iraq’s camp closures leave 100,000 people in limbo PRESS RELEASE: The ongoing rapid closure of displacement camps in Iraq is rendering homeless more than 100,000 people in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and at the onset of winter. [svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 600 200'%2F%3E] Iraq | 11. May 2020 Iraqi women denied their property by relatives, tribes and militias Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi women displaced by war remain unable to return to their homes because of systemic injustices that prevent them from proving or claiming ownership of their property. [svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 600 200'%2F%3E] Iraq|Syria | 17. Dec 2019 Refugees fleeing Turkey’s north east Syria operation say they can’t go back – NRC survey The majority of refugees fleeing from Turkey’s military operation in north east Syria say they won’t return to their country, and plan on settling in Iraq. Contact us Norwegian Refugee Council Prinsensgate 2 (Map) 0152 Oslo Norway Customer service: fundraising@nrc.no Privacy policy About our use of cookies Switchboard: +47 23 10 98 00 General inquiries: nrc@nrc.no Expert deployments: norcap@nrc.no About the website: webmaster@nrc.no Countries in focus Syria South Sudan Yemen Afghanistan Iraq Issues in focus Climate change and displacement Housing, land and property rights Urban displacement Cash & vouchers Shortcuts About us Careers Reports Procurements Camp management toolkit HEAT security training [Pai2.svg] 90% Over 90 per cent of NRC’s income is channelled to our work with people forced to flee.