One year since the fall of Mosul

Shereen Dbouk works as Advocacy and Information Advisor for NRC in Iraq.

For the past year, nearly 3 million Iraqis have suffered the same traumatic experience: losing everything in a fraction of a second, left with no other choice but to flee empty handed and with the hope that someone will be there at some point, to save their family’s life.

As a humanitarian, I have worked in many parts of the world where violence is raging. But I have rarely experienced a human tragedy at such a large scale. I see families stripped of everything, reduced to begging in order to survive. Men and women depending on humanitarian assistance to survive when most of them have previously self sustained and contributing to their country’s economy. It is painful to know that, while we manage to assist Iraqi who are fortunate enough to flee and reach us, hundreds of thousands are trapped in the crossfire or stuck in effective no man’s land, a closed checkpoint standing in the way of their safety. 

As conflict rages across the country, hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to survive, living in fear of what is to come. 

For millions, time has effectively stopped, with nowhere to go home to and fear paralyzing every move. 

Mosul fell on 11 June 2014. 

But the plight of the Iraqi people did not begin on June 11th.  For over a decade now, millions of Iraqi have suffered displacement, violence, mass human rights violations. 

There must be an end to repetitive violence, eradication of entire families and communities. 

Iraqis have been surviving never ending violence on their own for so long, and now their resilience is put to an extreme test. Iraq needs our help, or it will never get back on its feet, and it will never contribute to peaceful development in the region. 

This new generation must survive. Men, women and children cannot die because they did not receive enough water, food or shelter. 

What we are witnessing in Iraq is a human tragedy on all accounts. Iraqi’s lives and ancient heritage are being destroyed. The tradition of tolerance, and living together (‘vivre ensemble’) is being attacked. We must not allow for darkness to erase history in the very place where history as we know it, first began. 

Iraq’s survival is at stake, its people need the international community’s help. 

Now is the time to act, support The 2015 Humanitarian Response Plan with its 497 million USD appeal. Help us cover Iraqi’s basic life-saving support over the next six critical months. Help us in giving Iraq a chance at survival.