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Iranian Kurds Stuck in No-Man's Land
21.6.2006
By Brian Conley
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RUWEISHID REFUGEE CAMP -
A small stretch of desert, sandwiched between the
borders of Jordan and Iraq, is a "no-man's land,"
created by the Iraqi government's decision to cede
part of its western frontier to Jordan. It has
become a place where refugees from the war in Iraq
bide their time, desperate for resettlement.
For many, it all started when refugees from the
Kurdish region inside Iran's border fled their homes
in 1979, after the Islamic revolution, and initially
found a relative haven in Kellar in Kurdistan
(northern Iraq).
Not all were civilians fleeing government
repression. Some sympathized with the separatist
Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, and some
are believed to have been involved with the PKK in
Iran. Fearing reprisals from Iranian agents for
their actions or association, many were resettled to
al-Tash camp, outside Ramadi, Iraq, in 1982.
Azad Gvanmiri described some of the refugees for IPS:
"We are a group of neighbors and supporters of
Iranian organizations and parties against Iran. We
have been refugees for 27 years, and one year and
six months ago we left, because of our fear of being
attacked by the Islamic regime of Iran."
Sadr, an Iranian Kurd refugee who successfully made
it to Jordan in 2003, recalled life in the al-Tash
camp: "The population of the camp was more than
10,000 people, and the camp was surrounded by barbed
wire. The Iraqi government gave us ID cards on which
was written, you don't have the right to go outside
Ramadi city. During all these years we had no
facilities, formal schools, or health services. And
unfortunately, no organization helped us."
As the war progressed, many of them fled Iraq and
were given refuge inside Jordan, at the Ruweishid
refugee camp, where they await resettlement in other
countries.
Those who remained have not been so lucky. After the
United States' second assault on Fallujah in 2004,
life became very hard in that area of al-Anbar
province in western Iraq.
In January 2005 around 200 of the Iranian Kurds in
the Al-Tash camp left Iraq, hoping to find refuge
with their friends and relatives in Jordan.
The Jordanian government refused entrance however,
feeling it had already reached its top capacity for
admitting refugees from Iraq. Palestinians have also
been denied entrance in recent months, and have
opted for Syria instead.
The Kurds were able to leave Iraq, but found
themselves stranded in this border region, known
locally as no-man's land.
Khabat Muhammadi is only 20 years old, but his
colleagues have described him as a leader and
spokesman for the residents of the camp. "On Jan.
11, we left the camp to meet the UNHCR [United
Nations refugee agency]. They didn't receive us, and
we had no food, there was bad weather, and many
problems," he told IPS in an interview.
Nearly a year and a half later, they are still
waiting for a chance to find a peaceful existence
away from the war and turmoil of Iraq and their
homeland.
Each day, the camp's children – who make up about
half the population – go to the Amman-Baghdad
highway to beg for water and food from the constant
stream of truck drivers traveling between the two
countries.
The camp has tried to send adults for this task, but
found the truck drivers only seemed to show sympathy
toward the children.
"When I wake up, I go beside the Iraqi trucks with a
jerry can for water and reach out my hands for
water, but they won't give me even a little for
drinking," Gvanmiri said.
The children don't always wait to ask, and simply
take water or fuel from the trucks. "Many times the
children took water without asking, and sometimes
the truck drivers have beaten or punished them,"
said Muhammadi.
The children in the No-Man's Land camp are a
ubiquitous presence. Fifty-one percent of the camp's
members are under 18, and more are on the way. There
have been seven births in the camp. One of these
children was stillborn, due to the mother suffering
bleeding during the birth.
The UNHCR has made repeated contacts with the camp
in an attempt to solve the impasse over the
refugees, but they have failed to devise a solution
the refugees themselves consider acceptable.
Just this week a representative from the UNHCR and
the Kurdistan regional government visited the
No-Man's Land camp to again broach the offer of
resettlement in northern Iraq. The refugees refused.
Many remember family members who were hunted down in
Kurdistan by agents of Ayatollah Khomeini's regime.
"I was three months old when the Khomeini regime
killed my father in Suleimaniyah. Iran killed him in
1986," said a man giving his name as Barzan.
The UNHCR did not return IPS' e-mails seeking
information about the refugees in the No-Man's Land
camp. According to the Iranian Kurds, the UNHCR is
treating this as a problem of economic refugees, but
they stress that they are political refugees.
"We named our camp the Orphans of the International
Community Camp," said Gvanmiri. "We want our rights,
we cannot live in Iraq after 27 years with no legal
rights or identity, because we are the victims. Our
problem is not starvation, our problem is a
political problem. We are human and we should live
as all the humans in the world."
The refugees are running out of options. They have
issued a threat to begin a hunger strike if the
Jordanian government continues to refuse them safe
haven, and if the UNHCR fails to intervene on their
behalf.
Barzan explained that their lives are becoming very
desperate. "The situation is very hard, and we need
water. Yesterday, a 5-year-old girl was burned by a
campfire. Our situation is very bad; our babies are
begging for food and water."
Khabat Muhammadi says he will not accept silence
from the UNHCR and the Jordanian government. "On May
2, we held a peaceful demonstration, but they didn't
answer us. We told them if you do not support our
human rights within the next days, we will begin a
hunger strike in front of the UNHCR. We cannot live
in this situation – it's like a prison now. We
cannot live another 27 years in No-Man's Land."
Azad Gvanmiri notes a personal irony in his
condition as a refugee: "My name in English means
'free,' but unfortunately I am not free. I am
between two countries, but they refuse us; they will
not allow us into Jordan. The UNHCR told us it is
not their problem, it is up to Jordan, but the
Jordanian government told us it is UNHCR's problem."
Barzan hopes members of the international community
will come to see their situation and tell others,
"Second by second, we are suffering. We have a very
good story, and you should come to see it, with your
own eyes."
IPS
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