|
Iranian Kurd refugees accepted by Sweden
17.5.2006
By Rami Abdel Rahman
|
|
|
|
May 17, 2006, --
Sweden has agreed to host 111 Iranian Kurd refugees
currently living in Jordan, after they fled the war
in Iraq.
The refugees have been living at the Rweished camp,
situated about 60 kilometers east of the
Jordanian-Iraqi border, in 'rough conditions',
according to Yara Sharif, the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees spokesperson in Amman.
'For more than a year and a half, they had lived
under tents in the inhospitable desert of the no
man's land between Jordan and Iraq,' the UNHCR said
on its website.
The Iranian Kurds fled Iran to Iraq during the
Islamic Revolution lead by Al Khomeni, and fled Iraq
to Jordan as soon as the US-led war on Iraq broke
out.
The UNHCR said the refugees are in the process of
finishing travel procedures to fly to Sweden, while
200 more are preparing to relocate to Ireland.
Currently, there are 498 refugees living in one of
the largest refugee camps established after the Iraq
war broke out.
The camp is a one-kilometre-wide stretch of arid
land and was set up by the Red Crescent in 2003 to
accommodate an influx of refugees in the wake of the
war, according to The Jordan Times, Jordan's
English-language newspaper.
Sharif said there are ongoing talks with Sweden, as
well as New Zealand, Ireland, the US, Australia,
Denmark, Finland and Norway to host the remaining
refugees.
The remaining refugees include Iraqis, Palestinians,
Somalis, Sudanese, Moroccans and Iranian Kurds.
Last month, 202 refugees travelled to Stockholm,
according to the UNHCR.
The UNHCR posted the expectations of some of the
refugees as he was about to leave Jordan to Sweden.
Salim Kare, a father of five who had fled Iran at
the start of the Khomeini era, said he was "finally
going to live as a human being again."
"We were taught about the life, the schools, the
laws in Sweden. When I arrive in Sweden, in Advalla,
the place chosen for me, I will live like a Swede,"
he was quoted as saying on the UNHCR website.
Salim has spent more than half of his life as a
refugee. Surrounded by heaps of luggage, he smiled
in anticipation of his new life.
"We are happy to go, to start a new life, to learn
mechanics and art," said brothers Payman Saiful, 22,
and Zaman, 27. "But we are sad about the ones we are
leaving behind in that horrible place, no man's
land."
"When we arrive in Sweden, I will send my daughter
back to school," said Karim Kosadi, surrounded by
his five children.
His daughter says she cannot wait to leave:
"I want to learn English and Swedish, and
everything," she interrupted. "In the camp I did not
have the chance to learn anymore, and I have felt
frustrated ever since."
Next to her, a little baby girl gazed around the
messy departure hall with a serious look on her
face.
"Sonia was born in the no man's land, one year and
four months ago, she was the first baby born there,"
her mother said. "Nowadays all she says is Lolo (luleå),
the town we are heading for in Sweden."
Thelocal se
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 