GENEVA, June 3, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of Iraqis displaced by sectarian violence have started returning to their homes in a restive Baghdad suburb, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.

Over 4,000 families, or an estimated 24,000 people, have returned to their former homes in Baghdad's eastern Sadr City over recent months, according to a report conducted by the IOM and Iraq's Ministry of Displacement and Migration.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad's Rasheed sub-district, up to 1,000 displaced Shia and Sunni families were reported returning to the Awareej area in May.

However, these numbers are still 'extremely limited' given that some 2.7 million Iraqis have been displaced internally following the US-led invasion in 2003, said IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy.

Many families wanting to return are unable to do so either because their homes have been destroyed or illegally oocupied by other families. In some cases, it is simply still unsafe to go back.

The report also found that 'returnees and internally displaced people throughout the country continue to face a chronic shortage of services, with almost half of the families in some areas saying they have intermittent access to government food rations'.

Some local authorities have even threatened fines or prison terms for displaced families which are occupying public buildings, said the IOM.