Climate crisis leaves northern Iraq villages struggling to recover from IS war

Nearly a decade after the Islamic State (IS) was driven from northern Iraq, villages in the Sinjar district are facing a new crisis as extreme heat, declining water availability and prolonged drought make it increasingly difficult for communities to rebuild and return.

In Faka, a small village in Sinjar, abandoned houses outnumber occupied ones. Roofless buildings and walls damaged by shellfire remain scattered across the hillside, while weeds have taken over homes and fields.

“Today, the problem isn’t only IS,” says Rajab Mohammed, 62, the village’s mukhtar. “It’s water. It’s jobs. It’s the future.”

Around 150 families lived in Faka before IS seized the Sinjar region in August 2014, forcing residents to flee. The offensive included what the UN has recognised as a genocide against the Yazidi community, in which thousands were killed and more than 6,000 people, mostly women and children, were abducted.

Faka and nearby Qubq escaped the worst of the mass killings, but fighting and coalition airstrikes left large parts of the villages destroyed. Only around 20 families have returned to Faka, with reconstruction, employment and basic services remaining major obstacles.

“People ask why families don’t come back. The answer is simple. Where would they live? How would they earn a living?” says Aqil Ridha from Qubq.

Extreme heat and water shortages

The environmental pressures are making recovery even more difficult. The UN ranks Iraq as the fifth most vulnerable country to declining water and food availability and extreme heat.

Iraqi authorities project that the country’s average annual temperature will rise by 2.5C by 2050, with 24 additional days each year crossing extreme heat thresholds. Temperatures in Sinjar have approached 50C this summer.

Rainfall has also become increasingly erratic, while hotter and longer summers and prolonged droughts have reduced agricultural production.

The UN’s special representative for Iraq has warned that the country could have access to only 15 per cent of its water needs by 2035 if current trends continue.

For rural communities where agriculture remains a major source of income, declining water availability is directly affecting livelihoods and migration.

The International Organization for Migration recorded more than 186,000 people displaced by climate-related factors across Iraq as of September 2025.

In Tal Jado’o, another village in Sinjar, more than 200 people lived there before the war. Today, barely 50 remain. Roads are largely unpaved and electricity remains intermittent, while many homes have never been rebuilt.

“People didn’t leave because they wanted to,” says Bahjat Othman Hasan. “They left because they couldn’t live here any more.”

Groundwater levels fall

The water crisis is particularly visible beneath the surface. Groundwater levels in Tal Jado’o have fallen steadily, forcing farmers to drill increasingly deeper wells.

“Years ago, you could reach water at around 10 metres,” Hasan says. “Today, we must drill to around 25 metres. Every year it becomes more expensive.”

Agriculture is also being affected by the increasingly severe heat and dry conditions.

In the nearby village of Qazal Quyu, 19-year-old Smain said his family’s vegetable garden was destroyed shortly before the visit after a dust devil swept across neighbouring fields. An electrical spark reportedly ignited the dry vegetation.

Such rapidly rotating columns of hot air have become increasingly common during Iraq’s intense summers.

Villages losing a generation

Some villages have already reached a point where families have abandoned them altogether.

In Al-Sajea, all 24 houses still standing remain severely damaged. Before the war, 37 families lived there. Today, nobody lives in the village.

“For families, it’s impossible: everything was bombed, nobody can live here,” says Asef Hasan Ali, 43, one of the few people who continues to return during the agricultural season.

Many young people are also leaving rural areas in search of more reliable employment in cities such as Mosul and Erbil.

Village schools have fewer pupils each year, while those who complete secondary education often do not return after university. Others move directly to cities for construction work.

“Almost all my friends want to leave. Sometimes I want to leave, too. But if I go, who will help my parents?” says Smain.

For communities that survived displacement and the destruction caused by IS, the challenge now extends beyond rebuilding damaged homes. Without reliable water, livelihoods and basic services, rising temperatures and worsening drought threaten to make the return of displaced families increasingly difficult.