Focus on the homeless in Baghdad

Six-year-old Ali, and Sa'id, 10, are grubbing through the rubbish piled up near their temporary home behind the bombed-out Iraqi air force club in the capital, Baghdad. They are part of a new community of sorts sheltering in unfinished buildings at the club's compound, near the national theatre in the heart of the city. Most of the 200 families squatting in the rough concrete rooms with bricked-up windows were evicted from their homes in a crowded suburb when their landlords increased their rents by upwards of 50 percent after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April. The families say rents were kept affordable under the former regime, but now they cannot afford to live in any housing in Iraq, as landlords, cashing in on expatriate money, have raised rents to accommodate foreigners. To the families, that justifies taking over the unfinished buildings. "I’m like a refugee, because I’m not living the life I can live," Aliyah Shadid, whose husband is a former military officer, told IRIN. "Is it right for me to choose such an uncomfortable house to live in?" There is no door, but her family has moved its furniture and carpets into two rooms with bare brick walls. There are no panes in the windows either, but a kerosene heater keeps the room warmer than the brisk air outside while Shadid cooks a bean stew for lunch on a gas stove. Most of the buildings have no plumbing or electricity, and the smell of sewage wafts in through the windows. To their good fortune, however, Shadid and her neighbours are targets of a programme operated by the German aid agency, Help, under which they and other homeless people are being supplied with items such as blankets, soap and kerosene heaters. But even though the families at the former air force club have roofs over their heads, they are still struggling. "Their status as internally displaced people is a bit difficult, but people are still in need, whatever registration you give them," Heide Feldmann, Help’s Iraq country director, told IRIN in Baghdad. "If you had a proper government that cares for its people, they would have taken care of this," she said. Help will distribute humanitarian materials to more than 3,000 families in the coming weeks - families who have been found living in former military bases and unfinished or bombed-out housing around the city. About 10,500 Iraqis were displaced as a result of the US-led invasion. Another 40,000 people fall into the urban poor category. To keep things calm between the two groups, Help distributes aid to them equally. "In 50 percent of the locations, it looks like this - with a mixed population," Feldmann said. "They’re both living in the same mess." Across a muddy expanse of the unfinished club buildings, Allah Ghazi stands by a fence constructed from scrap metal. He supports a family of 10 by washing cars. "If we had any money at all, we would rent another place," he resignedly told IRIN. "I’m sad because my life has changed forever. It’s muddy and hopeless." But also within the compound, a family unrelated to Allah Ghazi has decided to treat the site as if they have taken up permanent residence. Sawsan Abdullah Aman and her husband paid about US $1,000 to another family as a premium to move into two rooms which had been wired for electricity. Although they are sitting in the dark because of a power cut, they switch on a small generator to show a visitor their television and stereo. "Maybe in the future, Paul Bremer, the US administrator of Iraq, will provide housing for everyone," Aman told IRIN. Her eyes glisten with tears as she tells of how she has had to sell all her valuables, including her gold jewellery, to "buy" the rooms where she now spends her days. "I ask Bremer or [President George W.] Bush to help us if they have mercy," she lamented. "I have a great hope with the Americans. They promise us liberty, freedom and democracy. They got rid of Saddam," she said, looking at her three smiling daughters. "They had nothing special for Eid, because all our money went to make sure we are safe," Aman added. "We have to protect our family now." Another neighbour is more sanguine. Sa'd Abid Ali moved from a rural area to the city so he could make more money. He said he knew he might have to move out of the air force buildings, so he was working hard to make enough money to move somewhere better. "I’m worried about the future, because I know it’s not legal to live here," he said. "But I came here because I want to see what will happen. I can’t afford my rent any more." Other internally displaced groups in Iraq include Palestinians, who also came to face rent hikes after the fall of Saddam, and now live in tents on a soccer field; some Arabs in northern Iraq who were pushed out by Kurds who wanted to return to their homes from which they had been evicted by the former regime; and the Ma'adin, or Marsh Arabs, who were moved from their homes in the south by the regime, and now want to return.