The data for the IDP and Returnee Master List is collected continuously and reported every two months. Data collection of IDP figures began in December 2013, and collection of returnee figures began in April 2015 (although returnee figures have been retroactively reported since October 2014). The Master List is carried out at the location level (including camps/sites/villages/neighbourhoods) with the IDP or/and returnee population. It collects data on IDPs in around 3,000 locations across 104 districts in 18 governorates and data on returnees in around 1,900 locations across 38 districts in 8 governorates.

Data is collected through IOM’s Rapid Assessment and Response Teams (RARTs), composed of over 100 staff members deployed across Iraq (20% of enumerators are female). IOM’s RARTs collect data through interviews with key informants utilizing a large, well-established network of over 9,500 key informants that includes community leaders, mukhtars, local authorities and security forces. Additional information is gathered from government registration data and partner agencies.

The displaced populations are identified through a process of collection, verification, triangulation and validation of data. IOM continues to closely coordinate with federal, regional and local authorities to maintain a shared and accurate understanding of displacement across Iraq. DTM collects information on the total number of households displaced or returned to a location at the time of data collection, not on new cases. Therefore, at every round of updates, the new count replaces the old count. The new count can be lower/higher than the previous count if the inflow is smaller/bigger than the outflow, or it can be zero if all IDPs/returnees left the location where they were previously identified. Once a location stops hosting IDPs or returnees, DTM does not track personal IDP movements; that is, if specific households have returned home, moved to a different shelter in the same location, or moved to a different location instead of their home. Instead, the DTM methodology is designed to regularly monitor and update all IDP locations, thus enabling continuous countrywide coverage of the main characteristics of the IDP population.

However, limited access due to security issues and other operational constraints can affect information-gathering activities. The variation in displacement figures observed between different reporting periods, in addition to true variation of the population figures, may be influenced by other factors such as the continuous identification of previously displaced groups and the inclusion of data on secondary displacement within Iraq.

The IDP and Returnee Master List uses the following definitions:

• The number of individuals is calculated by multiplying the number of households by six, the average size of an Iraqi household, for all out-of-camp IDPS and returnees. For in-camp IDPs, the number of individuals is calculated by multiplying the number of households by five, which is the average households size consistent with CCCM data since 2018. For the most accurate and up to date information on in-camp IDPs, please refer to the CCCM Cluster website.
• The DTM considers as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) all Iraqis who were forced to flee from 1 January 2014 onwards and are still displaced within national borders at the moment of the assessment.
• The DTM considers as returnees all those displaced since January 2014 who have returned to their location of origin, irrespective of whether they have returned to their former residence or to another shelter type. The definition of returnees is not related to the criteria of returning in safety and dignity, nor with a defined strategy for ensuring durable solutions.
• The location is defined as an area that corresponds either to a village for rural areas or a neighbourhood for urban areas (i.e. fourth official administrative division).
• Residence of origin for returnees only, refers to their same residence prior to displacement.
• Private settings for returnees and IDPs, include hotels/motels, houses of host families, or apartments/houses that are not owned. For IDPs, it also includes their own property.
• Critical shelters for returnees, include residences of origin (uninhabitable), tents/caravans/makeshift shelters/mud or brick houses, unfinished/abandoned buildings, public buildings or collective shelters, religious buildings, or school buildings. For IDPs, critical shelters include those listed above for returnees except residences of origin, as well as apartments/houses that are not owned or are uninhabitable.