Desertification drives thousands of families from their homes in Iraq’s Dhi Qar

Dhi Qar province has recorded the highest displacement rate due to desertification and drought in Iraq, with more than 1,000 people officially registered according to strict criteria issued by the Ministry of Migration and Displaced Persons, Haider Saadi, advisor to the Dhi Qar governor for citizen affairs, said on April 2.

According to local weather reports, 2024 was the hottest year in the Middle East, as climate change and global warming continue to wreak havoc on the populations living in some of the most arid locations on the planet. According to reports from last year, the Nasiriyah area saw temperatures above 48.7 centigrade, causing mass blackouts and water shortages. 

Speaking on the Arabic language "Nasiriyah Podcast" broadcast by Nasiriyah Radio and Television, Saadi warned that displaced people could become easy targets for organised crime as they migrate to other areas in search of jobs or better living conditions.

Four consecutive years of drought have devastated the once-fertile lands of southern Iraq, with average temperatures rising and rainfall decreasing significantly. Water flows in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have diminished by 30-40% in recent years, according to Kurdistan24.

Nearly one in five Iraqis now lives in an area suffering from water shortages, while 39% of the country's territory has become desert and more than half of remaining land is at risk of turning arid, Planetary Security Initiative data shows.

The United Nations estimates Iraq loses up to 100 square kilometres of arable land to degradation each year, leaving 92% of agricultural land under threat from environmental challenges.

"We lost the land and we lost the water," one displaced farmer told Arab News, describing his forced relocation from marsh community to urban slum.

Most climate migrants resettle in urban areas, with about 74% moving to cities like Basra, Najaf and Nasiriyah, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

In Nasiriyah alone, officials report 3,200 improvised housing units were built over five years to shelter 20,000-25,000 people who fled dried-up villages.

"Urban centres are already constrained in their ability to provide basic services," Thomas Wilson, climate specialist with the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Arab News.

Iraq has launched several initiatives to combat the crisis, including a nationwide afforestation campaign aiming to plant 5mn trees by 2029.

Saadi noted that areas receiving displaced persons may experience social and cultural imbalance due to demographic changes, alongside difficulties in providing basic services such as schools and infrastructure.

The local government is working to address this phenomenon at its roots through plans to provide water releases, especially for the marshes, and cooperation with specialised international organisations, he added.

"The desertification and drought committee suffers from weak funding, which hinders its movements and efforts effectively," Saadi said.

The country became the first Middle Eastern nation to join the UN Water Convention last year, pledging cooperation on shared water resources with neighbouring countries.

A new six-year programme backed by the UN's Green Climate Fund will inject $39mn into climate-resilient agriculture in drought-prone provinces, the UN announced in late 2024.

Efforts are also underway to restore Iraq's Mesopotamian Marshes, a UNESCO-listed wetland ecosystem now severely dried in parts of Dhi Qar and Basra provinces.