IRAQ: Focus on Fallujah residents returning

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

FALLUJAH, 22 Dec 2004 (IRIN) - In floods of tears, and with her 10-month old son in her arms, Hanan Jaboury, a mother of five and resident of Fallujah, some 60 km west of Baghdad, waited near a US checkpoint on the outskirts of the city for the green light.

She looked to the sky, asking God for a solution after losing her husband in the battle between US troops and insurgents.

Now, she is without a home or financial support, waiting for the final authorisation to find out what is left of her life in Fallujah. "I have been told that everything has been destroyed," she told IRIN.

After nearly a month of heavy fighting in the city, many residents that fled the city are staying in areas near the main checkpoints, awaiting a final decision from the interim government allowing families to return home.

The first group of residents will be allowed to go home to the western neighbourhood of Andalus and will be followed very carefully by US troops and Iraqi national guards.

"I preferred to stay in the camp. It is really very sad. I lost my home and everything I had inside it. I thought that I was going to find at least something of mine here but all I can see are destruction and blocks everywhere," said Muhammad Rabia'a, 65. He was one of a handful of people allowed back to the area on Tuesday to check on his home.

Devastation is everywhere after a month of conflict in the city. Many homes that still stand have no roofs. Burned out cars can be seen everywhere blocking the streets, along with dead animals.

The interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, told IRIN at a roundtable discussion with journalists in Baghdad on Tuesday that families would be compensated for the damage caused to houses and shops, as well as each family receiving US $600 dollars as a way to guarantee basic essential needs, such as food and water, until reconstruction takes place.

According to Allawi, returns to the Andalus district are the first step. From Saturday, people from other areas would also be allowed to return, if security permitted.

Allawi's office said families would get US $2,000 for minor damage to homes, $10,000 for major damage and new accommodation to replace those houses completely destroyed. Officials believe it will take time to access the entire city but say it could be back to normal in a few weeks.

Nearly 200,000 people fled from Fallujah, leaving only a third of the pre-conflict population. Most of them stayed in areas around the city in camps or with relatives.

A US Marine spokesman told IRIN that two clinics and two hospitals had been set up and 500,000 gallon water tanks had been distributed in Andalus for returning residents.

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