Iraq humanitarian crisis `one of the world`s worst`

Al-Jazeera :Iraqi civilians and officials have voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in the country’s western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.”The situation is deteriorating every day – the shortage of food is becoming worse,” a member of the Anbar Province’s security committee, Rajeh Barakat al-Issawi, told Al Jazeera. “ISIL fighters are banning all and any aid from entering the city [Fallujah],” he added.For almost two years now, Fallujah has endured a siege imposed on the city after it became the first to fall to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in January 2014.Since then, the Iraqi army has placed a near-total blockade, and ISIL has barred any civilians from leaving the city. With only a few routes remaining open, there is a serious shortage of food, medicine and fuel.Approximately 50,000 of the residents in Fallujah are at risk of starvation.Recently, the United Nations described Iraq’s humanitarian crisis as “one of the world’s worst”, saying that more than 10 million Iraqis, making up almost a third of the population, are in need of immediate humanitarian aid. This number has doubled from last year.In a statement to the Security Council, UN Envoy to Iraq, Jan Kubis, warned of the potential mass displacement of an additional two million Iraqis in the coming months. He called on the international community to provide aid to those in Fallujah, whose conditions were described as alarming.”The UN is deeply worried about humanitarian conditions in Fallujah in particular, which remains under ISIL control and effectively under siege. Food prices are increasingly exponentially and stocks in shops and households are running out, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) remote food security monitoring,” Kubis said.The war against ISIL has created more than 3.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs), many living in camps without access to medical care, water and clothes, according to one UN official. Last February, Ramadi was fully recaptured by Iraqi forces and the United States-led coalition. The city, however, remains in dire need of assistance. Most of the houses have been destroyed, according to Ramadi residents.While locals say the situation is more manageable in Ramadi than in Fallujah, they have expressed concern over power cuts, the absence of medical facilities as well as the unexploded landmines.