Camp Facts

Since November 2014, 3,027,317 Syrians have been registered as refugees. Another 177,939 are waiting to be registered.
Currently Iraq is hosting 223,923 refugees from Syria, which is 0.6% of the Iraqi population.
Domiz Refugee Camp was established in April 2012 to host Syrian Kurds.
Currently 57,953 refugees are registered in Domiz Camp. The planned capacity for the camp was 38,135 individuals.
The camp is closed for receiving new arrivals, with the exception of family reunification.
The camp is located 20 kms southeast of Dohuk city, in Iraqi Kurdistan and 60 km from Syria-Iraq border.
The size of Domiz Camp is 1,142,500 m2.
There are 12 Quarters, 10 main streets and 99 side streets.
In December 2013 a total of 9,367 standard shelters were detected, as well as 990 improvised structures likely being used for shelter and other purposes, and 592 infrastructure and support buildings.
45% of the population are female.
55% of the population are male.
37% of the population are below the age of 15.
57% of the population are aged between 15 and 49, only 38% of this group are female.
The average age is 21.
In November 2014 there were 16,699 households registered in Domiz Camp.
In November 2014 the average amount of children born in Domiz Camp was approximately 2.6 per day.
Since the establishment of the camp 130 persons died according facts in november 2013.
An average of 324 people per day make use of the primary healthcare.
There are two hospitals in the camp.
There are 7 schools in the camp.
According to The Syrian Regional Refugee Response, 100% of the children registered are also enrolled in school.
8313 Syrian students between grades 1-9 are attending schools in Duhok Governorate.
Since the foundation of the camp the UNHCR distributed 12,700 tents, 139,948 blankets, 28,387 kitchen sets, 27,860 cooking stoves
Food assistance, of adequate quality and quantity, is provided through food vouchers, redeemable in supermarkets in Domiz village for 2,100 kilocalories per person per day. Each beneficiary is provided with an individual food parcel (16.29 kg per month).
The camp produces an average of 80 tons of refuse per day, which is taken away by seven trucks, twice a day.
The camp needs 4.5 megawatts of electricity per day.
The camp uses 2200 m3 of water per day, which is distributed by trucks and regular infrastructure.
Four families share one latrine and one shower.
Approximately 600 - 700m3 wastewater is produced every day, which is taken away by 13 trucks every day.
75% of the households in Domiz Camp claim to have an income; of the other refugees in Kurdish Iraq this is 47%. 22% of this income is generated through labour and commercial activities outside the camp.
The average income for labourers is $275 per month.
In 14% of the households the female is responsible for an income.
81% of the income is used for food.
On arrival in 2012, 66% of the refugees had savings. Currently this is 4%.
47% of the households in Domiz Camp are in debt.
Domiz Camp, as with other refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has been recognised as a permanent city by the regional authorities. Still, the best-case scenario is that the situation in Syria settles down, security improves and that people are able to return to their homes safely.
The Syrian Regional Refugee Response needs a budget of $3,740,654,701. In November 2014 51% of this was covered.

About Refugee Republic

Refugee Republic is an interactive transmedia documentary about everyday life in Domiz Camp, a Syrian refugee camp in northern Iraq.

The aim of the makers, artist Jan Rothuizen, multimedia journalist Martijn van Tol, photographer Dirk Jan Visser and webdeveloper Aart Jan van der Linden, is to enrich the existing image of refugee camps by building an anatomical sketch of everyday life in the camp, through a combination of drawings, film, photography, sound and text to create a sensory experience.

The interactive documentary, produced by Submarine Channel and De Volkskrant, premiered at the Amsterdam documentary festival IDFA on 20 November 2014. The Dutch version was released online on 28 November 2014 on De Volkskrant website together with a six page special in De Volkskrant newspaper. Simultaneously, OneWorld magazine published the documentary online as well as in a six page print publication in its monthly magazine.

Press

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Profile of the makers

Synopsis

A group of women sit on the ground in front of a row of white tents, waiting for help. A child covered in dust stands behind barbed wire gazing wide-eyed into the lens. These are the images that reach us from refugee camps. And yet a whole world lies behind these images, one that few people witness with their own eyes.

We understand the camps to be temporary measures, but worldwide refugees remain in some form of relief care for an average of 17 years. (Source: Norwegian Refugee Council).

For the first time since the Second World War there are more than 50 million refugees worldwide. The hundreds of refugee camps across the world are rapidly growing into mini-societies, with refugees as citizens and relief organizations as governments. Like any others, the refugee-citizens make home improvements, go to the baker, look for work or start up a business, seek entertainment, fall in love, argue with the neighbours, get married and have children, who also go to day care centres after school.

Just as we do, the refugee-citizens navigate between the opportunities and risks of the free markets in the camp and the sometimes helpful and at other times intrusive camp government.

Refugee Republic takes you into the world behind the relief organization posters. The makers of this interactive documentary went to Camp Domiz in northern Iraq, where around 64 thousand predominantly Kurdish Syrian refugees have sought shelter. You can explore the camp through the pen drawings of an artist, the lens of a photographer and the ears of a radio producer. You meet the residents and get to know them by scrolling through audio-visual narratives, or wandering through drawings enriched with sound.

Through an interactive map you get to know a.o. Ahmed (13), who skips school to look after his bird stall, you follow a day in the life of the busy circumciser Shixmous (63), you drink a cup of tea between tuk tuk engines with the Mahmoud the tinkerer (23), and you fall silent with Fatma (16) who hopes to find her big break as a singer via Youtube.

They each arrive, exhausted, at the camp entrance. They each receive a basic aid box. And then their lives here begin. Welcome to Refugee Republic.

Refugee Republic

A Submarine Channel Production

Concept & Drawings	Jan Rothuizen
Concept, Text, Audio, Editing	Martijn van Tol
Concept, Video, Photography	Dirk-Jan Visser
Concept, Interactive Developer, Editor	Aart Jan van der Linden
Interactive Producer	Yaniv Wolf
Interface Design	Christiaan de Rooij
Music, compositions and all instruments	Bonno Lange
Audio & Colour Correction	Joost Wierenga
Additional Video Editing	Thijs Papôt
Studio Assistants	Mark Lohmann, Soeraya Siemons
Text Layout	Jorgen Koolwijk
Research	Martin Turner
Project Management Iraq	Michelle Hamers, Nienke Nauta
Interpreter Iraq	Bahmand Osei
Translators	Peshmerge Morad, Rosie Heinrich
Text corrections	Wybrand Scheffer & Esther Ottens
PR	Lotte Niks, Yaniv Wolf (yaniv [at] submarine.nl)
Producers	Bruno Felix & Femke Wolting. A Submarine Channel Production 2014
Co-Production de Volkskrant:	Laurens Verhagen, Chef Digital de Volkskrant
This producation was made possible by:	The Non-fiction Transmedia Programme (A collaboration of: Creative Industries Fund, Dutch Media Fund and the Netherlands Film Fund) De Volkskrant Free Press Unlimited Postcode Loterij Fonds One World The Creative Industries Fund NL The City of Amsterdam
Wedding footage	Private collection of Ahmet Pashew
Many thanks to:	Mirka Duijn Bram Jansen

Creative Industries Fund NL - Mediafonds - NL Film Fonds - Gemeente Amsterdam - Stimuleringsfonds voor de journalistiek - Free press unlimited - One World