2014_12_04_Erbil_IDPs_sam_tarling_MH_8341

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2014_12_04_Erbil_IDPs_sam_tarling_MH_8341
2014_12_04_Erbil_IDPs_sam_tarling_MH_8341

Displaced Iraqi Christian Sarah Habib puts away mattresses and blankets that were bought with vouchers donated by Caritas, in Erbil, Iraq, 2014.

Her family fled their home in Qarakosh, Iraq in August, when Islamic State militants overran their town. The so-called Islamic State is a radical Islamic militant group that controls territory in both Iraq and Syria. The fall of Mosul to IS in August and their subsequent advances is thought to have displaced over 1 million people, most of whom were Yazidis, Christians and other minorities, but also Muslim families too.

Now the extended family of 30 – Five brothers, their wives and children, and their father – lives in one small house in a compound just outside Erbil.

Her father Salem Habib, 48, one of the five brothers, told Caritas that his family had fled their home at midnight, packing lightly because they had been re-assured that the IS incursion would be swiftly repelled. That was four months ago. "We only brought two mattresses with us so we used the vouchers to buy more and also some blankets."

Sarah said: "We used to have to sleep on the tile floor. At first when we were sleeping on the floor. it was really cold. After we got the mattresses it got better but it's still not comfortable.
When we wake up we feel really cold and my mother complains of back pain."

Five people sleep in this room. Salem said " Back home we each had our own house and every child had their own room. Here there's no work and nothing to do. It's no way to live."

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Taken on: December 4, 2014
Sets appears in:   • Iraq Christmas 2014   
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, f/2.2, 1/160 sec, 24mm, ISO 4000 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens: EF24mm f/1.4L II USM
Aperture: f/2.2
Exposure Time: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length: 24mm
ISO: 4000
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
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