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Civil affairs soldiers provide home for displaced Iraqis

Army News Service

Release Date: 8/15/2003

By Spc. Ryan Smith

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 15, 2003) - - In a dusty corner of east Baghdad, there is a community of families living in an old Iraqi military complex. The buildings in the compound are less like family housing and more like warehouses and offices. Since coalition forces entered the city, soldiers have found that there are thousands of squatters living in abandoned government buildings.

However, the people living at this compound have been encouraged to move there -- many have already been evicted from schools, fire departments, police stations and other government facilities that are now needed by the new Iraqi government.

The compound, named Hillsdale by U.S. soldiers, after Maj. Scott Hill, commander of Detachment A, 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Danbury, Conn., is a temporary home for displaced Iraqis. Some are homeless because they are unemployed and others are internally displaced for political reasons.

While Iraqis living there have been invited to stay, it's not a free ride. The residents of Hillsdale are allowed to live there only on a temporary basis.

Soldiers from the 411th first found this site at the end of April 2003. Spc. Frank O'Farrell, civil affairs specialist with the battalion, is one of the soldiers who helped organize the community at Hillsdale, located near the civil military operations center (CMOC) that the 411th operates behind the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

"When we first got there, we found more unexploded ordnance than I've ever seen in one place," he said. "There were piles of C4 (explosives), dynamite, grenades, mortars, land mines, artillery shells, .50- caliber machine guns, and thousands of rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition."

Explosive ordnance disposal soldiers and engineers worked around the clock to clear the area of these hazardous munitions.

At the beginning of August, the civil affairs soldiers returned to the site to assess the conditions.

O'Farrell and the other soldiers on his team asked people living there questions to determine who the heads of the families are, how many people are in each family, where they are from, why they were forced to move there, what their skills are, and whether they are currently employed.

The questionnaire is part of the displaced citizen registration that the civil affairs soldiers use to create a database to streamline the assistance they provide to Iraqis who need it.

Part of the need for registration is to eliminate corruption in the community. O'Farrell and the other soldiers have found evidence that some people are abusing the system. Some people are living there rent free, but are employed and can afford to live elsewhere. Some residents there are demanding rent for allowing others to move into their assigned living space. Essentially, they are subleasing property that they haven't paid for.

Although these problems are not widespread in Hillsdale, it is difficult for the civil affairs team of about six soldiers to regulate a community of 700 to 900 people.

Eventually, the soldiers will turn Hillsdale over to Iraqi authorities. The families on the compound will choose representatives for a committee that will report to the local neighborhood advisory council.

"We want the Iraqis to be able to work out their problems themselves," O'Farrell said.

The committee will be able to address the community issues to civil affairs units and nongovernmental organizations council.

The problems the people living at Hillsdale face range from water and electricity outages to unemployment and getting local ration cards.

Though O'Farrell and other 411th soldiers visit Hillsdale and meet with the people living there on almost a daily basis, the repair work and movement of families into the compound is overseen by 1st Armored Division's civil affairs advisers.

The plan for Hillsdale is organized into several projects to renovate the facilities. Developing a system for relocating displaced citizens, rather than simply evicting them to live on the streets, will prevent a humanitarian crisis, said Maj. Scott Caldwell, deputy director of civil affairs, and a member of the government support team for humanitarian assistance support, 1st Armd. Div.

Keeping people off the streets and allowing the new government to regain control of government buildings and facilities in Baghdad will work out in everyone's best interest, he said.

(Editor's note: Spc. Ryan Smith is with the 372nd MPAD.)