'We were all prisoners; now, we are free': Iraqis fleeing Mosul find safety in camps
United Nations pleading for more help to support residents displaced in effort to overtake ISIS
ISIS killed Talal Jarbo Sliman's three brothers and all he got was a letter letting him know they were gone.
Jarbo Sliman's brother Said was found guilty by a court of the Islamic State in Mosul in October 2014, the letter reads, and the punishment was death. Said's crime, as well as that of the other two brothers, was helping the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces.
Two years later, Jarbo Sliman was still carrying that letter in the breast pocket of his jacket as he arrived at a camp set up for internally displaced people 30 kilometres east of Mosul.
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He and his family were among the first to arrive at the Al Khazer camp recently from Mosul as security forces and the U.S.-led coalition wage a battle to overtake ISIS in the city.
Others came before him from surrounding villages and towns. The number of displaced people is now estimated to be more than 54,000, according to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"Two years I cried for my brothers. I don't even have their bodies," Jarbo Sliman said through a translator. When he asked ISIS for the bodies so he could give them a proper burial, he was denied.
"We were all prisoners; now, we are free," he said.
Jarbo Sliman is unable to let go of the pain the militants caused him. If the letter didn't remind him, looking at the face of his nephew would. In addition to losing his father, the boy also lost his four brothers.
Resources a major concern
ISIS took control of Mosul in June 2014 and Iraq's second-largest city has been its stronghold in the country ever since.
The current battle for the city is being fought by Iraqi security forces with the support of Kurdish peshmerga forces, the U.S.-led coalition and Shia militias.
Since the offensive for Mosul began on Oct. 17, the United Nations has been pleading for more support.
"Where the fighting goes, the people will hopefully be coming out to safety," said Caroline Gluck, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
"We desperately do need more funds, especially for the period coming up, the winter months."
So far, only 55 per cent of what the UN agency has budgeted for its response to the battle for Mosul has been funded.
It expects to need at least $284 million US to support the enormous exodus of people from the city of almost two million.
Construction on additional camps and camp extensions has been expedited to accommodate another 450,000 people, but up to 1.5 million could be directly affected by the military operation.
Other non-profit organizations are at work bringing aid into the camps, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Samaritan's Purse and other local Kurdish agencies such as the Barzani Charity Foundation.
The Hasansham camp east of the city stopped accepting new arrivals last week because it was already home to more than 10,000 people.
Al Khazer camp had an extension added recently and it is supporting nearly 9,000, with hundreds more showing up each day.
Laughing and dancing
Many coming to the camps have stories as horrifying as Jarbo Sliman's of ISIS occupation of Mosul, but there is also a complete cross-section of the Iraqi population in Al Khazer.
The kids seem to have the run of the place and they love it. Playing, laughing, dancing — they all have a tube of bubbles to keep them occupied.
They leave it up to their parents to figure out what comes next for them. Some parents are worried about getting their children back to school, others are just happy to have their family in one place and that they are all safe.
At the gates of the camp, opportunists sell food and other goods to the camp residents, handing items through the chain-link fence since they aren't allowed in.
Ali, who wished to be called by his first name, said that he, too, is grateful for the safety and security the Al Khazer camp offers. His main concern is for his three-year-old son.
Shortly after ISIS took control of Mosul, his son had a bad fall. When Ali rushed him to hospital, he couldn't afford the fees. He says ISIS offered to pay the hospital bill for him if Ali agreed to join the jihadist group.
Ali rejected the offer from ISIS.
"Even if my son died there, I couldn't join them. If I joined them, my family's future would be gone," he said, through an interpreter.
Ali said his son still wakes up screaming every night from the pressure in his head.
Ali has lost everything. His home was destroyed in the military offensive to retake the city. His job and car are also gone.
He doesn't see any reason that his family would ever return to Mosul. All that is left there are the terrible memories of being trapped.
"The only thing I want is to return to see my family. I only brought my wife and my kids here. We are alone."
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With files from Gavin John