Review of the Information, Return, and Reintegration of Iraqi Nationals to Iraq (IRRINI) Programme
CMI REPORT
Figure 3: Gender distribution of voluntary returnees to Iraq as of 31 August 2011
R 2011:4
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1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Female
Male
It is moreover of interest to note for how long returnees had been in their home areas before they were interviewed, in determining the expected extent of their reintegration process. Table 2: Duration of stay in Iraq before interview
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Region
Average number of weeks
Duhok
48
Erbil
61
Suleimaniah
43
Baghdad and South Iraq
24
Total
44
The notable difference here is that returnees to Baghdad and Southern Iraq had spent a shorter period back home before interviewed than those returning to Iraqi Kurdistan, in average close to 6 months. This implies that 50 per cent of the returnees selecting the business option had not started their business at the time of the interview and thus held less experience with this part of the reintegration programme. In contrast, while those who returned to Erbil had spent a longer time back home than returnees to Duhok and Suleimaniah, they had all been back home on average between nearly 11 and up to 15 months. This will have ensured that they, again on average, should have been through the entire reintegration process. Another interesting aspect of the study is the uncertainty regarding whether we have been able to cover a fairly representative number of returnees throughout the programme period. Figure 4 documents a good spread of time of return among tho se returned when broken down by annual quarter of return, with a peak in the first quarter of 2009.
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Homepage of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Amman, Jordan: www.norway-iraq.org/Retur/Lover-og-regler-foropphold-i-Norge/Kjonnsfordeling-frivillig-retur/, accessed 23.11.2010, and UDI update of 04.10.2011 17 A total of 19 interviewees cited the month of return only, without citing an exact date. In these instances, the basis of calculation has been taken to be the 15th of that month. ’January 2009’ thus translates into ”15.01.2009”. A total of 10 interviewees indicated the year of return, without any further specification. These were all taken out of the calculation of average duration of stay. Suffice to say that 2 returned in 2008, while the remaining 8 returned in 2009.
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