A/HRC/44/41/Add.1 displaced persons who wish to return to camps following a failed attempt to return to their area of origin are as entitled to humanitarian assistance as the rest of the displaced population, and must be accepted and registered for support and assistance. B. Humanitarian access 22. Humanitarian organizations have been facing increasing challenges when seeking access to programme locations and providing assistance to internally displaced persons and returnees in need. According to the Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview 2020, constraints on access, such as acts of intimidation, the presence of armed actors, explosive ordnance, and issues relating to checkpoints and administrative restrictions, have been reported in 93 per cent of districts in northern and central Iraq. 23. The Special Rapporteur received reports that, in order to move personnel and supplies within Iraq and across checkpoints, humanitarian actors were required to obtain multiple access letters, the process for which was cumbersome, lengthy and fragmented, and has become more complex over time; governorate, district-level and local security actors increasingly demand access letters in addition to the national letters obtained through the process established by the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Center. In some areas, such as in Ninewa Governorate, up to nine letters were required at a time. The requirements are different in each location; furthermore, some access letters have limited validity, and must to be constantly renewed. 24. Humanitarian access has worsened since December 2019, when the Government of Iraq suspended the issuance of access letters to non-governmental organizations, a decision that had a significant impact on their ability to operate in the country and to provide assistance to displaced populations and returnees. The Government has, however, reported taking comprehensive measures to address this important issue, including through the establishment of a hotline. A facilitation of the issuance of national access letters is essential if humanitarian actors are to reach internally displaced persons and returnees in need. C. Civil documentation and access to services 25. Internally displaced persons face numerous barriers when they seek to obtain or renew civil documentation. Many have lost their documents or had them destroyed or confiscated in the course of displacement. Those having lived in areas controlled by ISIL might hold documents that are not recognized by the Government of Iraq. Iraqi law requires that civil documents be obtained in one’s place of origin, to which internally displaced persons are often unable to travel. Civil documentation is fundamental to the enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, as it permits access to basic services, including health care and education,10 and civil services such as recognition of marital status and property rights, employment opportunities and freedom of movement, and existing compensation schemes and social protection benefits. The lack of civil documentation and consequent marginalization increase the vulnerability of internally displaced persons, including to sexual and gender-based violence. 26. The initiative of the Government of Iraq, with the support of the international community, to send mobile units to a number of camps is highly commendable and constitutes a good practice. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government and partners to continue this undertaking in order to ensure that the units visit as many camps, locations hosting internally displaced persons, and areas of return as possible, and to continue measures to ensure that the service be provided to all those in need, without discrimination. Expanding documentation efforts beyond the civil identity and national registry to cover birth certificates and other civil documentation is also necessary. The Special Rapporteur moreover encourages the Government to facilitate the issuance of documentation for internally displaced persons by cutting through the layers of bureaucracy that are normally applied to non-displaced populations. 10 6 See for example UNAMI/OHCHR, The Right to Education in Iraq. Part One: The legacy of ISIL territorial control on access to education, February 2020, pp. 11–12.