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Sweden, Ireland to host 311 Iranian Kurd
refugees
15.5.2006
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
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AMMAN, Jordan,
May 15, -- Sweden and Ireland have agreed to host
311 Iranian Kurd refugees who have been living at
the Rweished camp, 60km from the border with Iraq,
an official from the United Nations High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Sunday.
Sweden recently gave the green light to 111 Iranian
Kurd refugees and Ireland accepted 200, according to
UNHCR spokesperson in Amman Yara Sharif.
The 311 refugees are still in Rweished waiting to
complete travel procedures.
She said talks are ongoing with host countries to
resettle the remaining refugees. UNHCR officials say
the government has given them until end of September
to resettle all the refugees.
According to the UNCHR, there are 498 refugees
living in the one-kilometre-wide stretch of arid
land that forms the Rweished camp, set up by the Red
Crescent in 2003 to accommodate an expected influx
of refugees in the wake of the American invasion of
Iraq.
In the first few weeks after the war broke out,
Rweished camp became home to more than 1,200 Iraqis,
Palestinians, Somalis, Sudanese, Moroccans and
Iranian Kurd refugees.
Over the past three years, that number has dwindled
to around 500. Many have been resettled in other
countries, including New Zealand, Ireland, the US,
Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.
A total of 389 of the Palestinian refugees with
Jordanian spouses were granted entry into Jordan,
which was the first neighbouring country to open its
borders to Iraqi refugees for humanitarian reasons,
but the government said they would not be allowed to
stay permanently.
Instead, Jordan agreed to provide temporary shelter,
initially for three months, which have stretched
into three years.
A 2003 agreement between the government and the
UNHCR on the running of the camp gives the NGO the
right to “provide accommodation to those Iraqi and
other nationals in need of temporary protection,
pending longer-term and durable solutions, in
particular the safe return to their country of
origin or habitual residence or resettlement in
third countries.”
The camp is run by the Jordanian Hashemite Charity
Organisation (JHCO), while the UNHCR provides food
and other necessities. Jordan manages the camp,
keeping law and order and providing medical
services. The government has set up a clinic to
handle immediate medical conditions. There is also
an ambulance for emergency situations.
According to the UNHCR, there are currently about
1,000 non-Palestinian refugees in Jordan eligible
for UN assistance, including 700 Iraqis.
The organisation, established on Dec. 14, 1950 by
the UN General Assembly, is mandated to lead and
coordinate international action to protect refugees
and to address refugee problems worldwide. Its
primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and
well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that
everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and
find safe refuge in another state, with the option
to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to
resettle in a third country.
The UNHCR branch office in Amman was established in
October 1990 in response to the influx of refugees
fleeing Iraq during the first Gulf war. The office
continued to provide support to the refugees who
fled Iraq as a result of US military action in 2003.
Jordantimes com
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