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Iranian Kurdish Refugees Trapped on
Iraqi-Jordanian Border
6.3.2007 |
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March 6, 2007
The violence in Iraq has displaced thousands of
people across the country. For one group of Iranian
Kurds, this journey has led them to the Iraqi border
with Jordan where they have spent the last two years
in hopes of being resettled in a third country.
Producer Reza Allahyari recently traveled to their
makeshift camp inside Iraq where he learned first
hand of their plight. Erin Brummett narrates.
The al-Karama refugee camp has been home to nearly
200 Iranian Kurdish refugees for almost two years.
The refugees -- who have spent more than a quarter
century living in Iraqi refugee camps -- arrived at
the border between Iraq and Jordan after fleeing the
al-Tash refugee camp in Iraq's Anbar province in
January 2005 following clashes between insurgents
and U.S. forces.
They left with hopes of finding a better life, but
were stopped just a few hundred meters short of
their goal -- denied entrance to Jordan.
Esmaeil Karimi has been a refugee for nearly three
decades. "With the beginning of war between Iran and
Iraq in 1979, I left Iran but my father was a
fugitive for political reasons and had left the
country before I did,” he told us.
Since 2005 the refugees have put pressure on the
U.N. Refugee Agency -- UNHCR -- to allow them to
enter Jordan and be resettled in a third country,
citing the insecurity in Iraq.
Hassan Safari has spent most of his life without a
home. "I have (lived) three generations as a refugee
in Iraq. My father came to Iraq as a young man and
died here. I was only a kid. Now I am an old man.
This is my son, he has not been schooled. Why should
it be this way?" he asks.
Over the past few months the refugees have become
more vocal, holding regular demonstrations,
including a hunger strike by several Iranian Kurds,
to express their discontent with their present
situation and bring assistance from the UNHCR and
others. But the only help they receive is from the
occasional truck driver willing to share a liter or
two of water.
Walpurga Englbrecht, a UNHCR official in Amman,
Jordan, says the refugee agency can do little to
help the group. "We have been in touch with the
Jordanian authorities. They were denied entry. And
where they are currently, in the no man's land, it
is very difficult for (the) UNHCR to actually
provide effective protection and assistance. So, we
have been in touch with the various representatives
for this group in order to see what can be done."
UNHCR officials have offered to relocate the
refugees to the Kaveh refugee camp in northern Iraq.
But the group has refused, seeing such a move as a
step backwards in their efforts to be resettled.
The Jordanian Interior Ministry did not respond to
VOA's requests for an interview. And the Jordanian
Embassy in Washington declined an interview request.
According to published reports, the Jordanian
government fears a flood of refugees if they offer
entry visas to this group of Iranian Kurds.
For refugee So-Aad Javanmiri, the situation is
desperate. "Up to now I have had no joy in my life.
My life is over; I am a dead woman walking. Please
do something for our children."
Many countries are sympathetic to the Iranian Kurds’
situation. Sweden has transferred 500 Iranian Kurds
from inside Jordan to Sweden. But Per Frykholm, the
First Secretary at the Swedish Embassy in Amman,
says there is nothing they can do unless the
refugees are granted entry into Jordan.
"According to Jordanian authorities, there are no
refugees of this nature and there are no camps like
this in Jordan at this moment,” he said. “Which
means this embassy cannot handle things that are not
acknowledged by the Jordanian authorities inside
Jordan."
The refugees have crafted a makeshift camp offering
rudimentary shelter. But there is nothing they can
do to help the sick.
Kumar is a toddler who was born in the camp. He is
unable to stand and his mother's efforts to help him
have failed.
"We took him to the Iraqi forces nearby,” she said.
“They have a small and limited (supplies) and they
gave him some pills.
We also informed the U.N., but we have not heard
back from them yet."
The pain Media Azizi lives with is etched in her
face. The only help these children have received is
from Prince Rashed Bin Al-Hassan, the head of the
Jordanian Relief Agency who sent officials to
evaluate their conditions.
Larry Bartlett is Deputy Director of the Asia and
Near East Assistance Office at the U.S. State
Department. He says, "We are aware of this group and
we have been working mostly with UNHCR and both
governments to try to resolve this situation."
When asked what the latest information is about the
refugees, he said, "The latest on this situation is
[we are] trying to find some kind of durable
solution for this group. The group we know is still
caught at the border. The Jordanian government will
not let them enter Jordanian territory. And we know
they also do not want to go back to the al-Tash camp
that has now been closed by UNHCR."
Bartlett says efforts are ongoing to resettle the
group in a third country. However, the UNHCR has
said before that can happen, the refugees need to
move to a protected area such as the Kaveh camp in
northern Iraq. There, officials with the UNHCR say
they could safely look into their request for
resettlement. However, such claims are determined
based on demonstrated need and is provided at the
discretion of resettlement countries that have
limited quotas to resettle refugees.
But for those who have spent their whole lives as
refugees like Gelavijh Noori, they can only dream
about a better life. "Any young adult, any girl who
turns 18 or 20 years old has her own wishes in life
to be fulfilled. They have their rights and I want
to be like them and have a comfortable life."
voanews com
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