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English woman wants to stop
ethnic-cleansing of Syrian Kurds
1.11.2009
By Wladimir van Wilgenburg
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December 1, 2009
LONDON, — Sheila Mosley was born in Zimbabwe,
but her parents are from Yorkshire in the UK.
Together with the Syrian Kurd Khalaf Dahowd, she has
chosen to promote the situation of Kurds from Syria
as co-chair of the International Support Kurds in
Syria Association.
Where are you from? What's your professional
background.
I was born in Zimbabwe, my parents are English -
from Yorkshire in UK. We came back here when I was 8
years old, and then when we were going back, we were
refused admission to what was then Rhodesia because
of my father's stance for the rights of Africans,
and we have lived here in UK since that time.
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Sheila Mosley with a friend at a Newroz party. |
I am a qualified social
worker, and for a while in 2008/9 I worked as a
legal rep for people in the asylum system in UK. I
currently work for an organization that promotes the
voice of the child in the family courts when
decisions have to be made about where they live and
who they see.
How did you get involved
with the Kurds? Do you know only Syrian Kurds?
I became involved with people seeking asylum in UK
in about 2000, and began to find singers because I
like to sing myself, so I was asking everyone 'do
you sing'. The first Kurdish person I met this way
was on a demonstration against the Afghan war. He is
from Kurdistan-Iraq and is a political man who
roused my interest in Kurdish history. Through him I
met other Kurds and by March 2003 we were organising
an event for Newroz. As time passed I met many other
people from Kurdistan-Iraq. I also have some
musician friends who are Kurdish from Iran including
Hassan Darzi. I know a few musicians from
Kurdistan-Turkey too.
Kurds here have been very welcoming and friendly,
and they taught me about Kurdish culture and
history, food, music and dancing. I built up a
strong friendship with a man who went back to Raniya,
Kurdistan-Iraq. He was political too but from a
different Party, and he also worked tirelessly for
his fellow-Kurds. We are still in contact.
Three years ago I met Khalaf Dahowd who is co-chair
of SKS, with me. We were asked to help a Kurdish guy
from Syria who had just survived a removal attempt
by the UKBA and he needed a solicitor. Through this
work, I began to meet other Kurds from
Kurdistan-Syria and realized that I didn't know much
about their story and nor did other people. That is
why we've chosen to promote the situation of Kurds
from Syria as our primary task.
What do you like about
Kurdish culture?
Dolma, the sound of the shamshal, music and dancing
(but I can't dance like the Kurds from Syria), their
friendship and openness. I can't speak the language,
and I think many Kurdish women have a difficult life
because of the culture
How did you get the idea to start the International
Support Kurds in Syria Association ‘SKS’? Since you
are not Kurdish.
After speaking with friends, I started an email
group to try to bring academics together with Kurds
and others who could make a difference by working
together. I would prefer to spend my energy making a
difference in a political/human rights way,www.ekurd.netalso
my Government (UK) has been working on this issue in
my name so I have an obligation to get involved.
Khalaf had the idea of a starting a website and we
work as a team. The name SKS came from 'Support
Kurds in Syria' and we added 'International' because
we want to work across borders, and 'Association'
because we are a group. Anyone can join us if they
are willing to accept our aims. These are written up
on the website.
Why do you think there is
less media attention for the Kurds in Syria,
compared to Iraq and Turkey?
There are fewer Kurds in Syria, but also the
Government is so oppressive that it is difficult to
get information in or out. Our recent discussions
with people who work in this area confirmed that
there is now less information coming out, and that
this is an indication of increasing oppression.
Do you think that the SKS
can have influence on the situation of Kurds in
Syria?
Yes, we want to find a way to bring the voice of
Kurds in Syria to the world outside, and to work
with others who are doing this. We want to bring
this issue to the world and open the door to change
through discussion and developing understanding.
Our reports are based sometimes on first-hand
reports and other times through other human rights
organizations. We send them out by email to many
organizations and individuals who we hope will take
notice, and act on them before passing them on. In
this way we directly make appeals to the
international community including Governments, and
we invite others to take up the appeals with us.
There is not much point asking the Syrian Government
to change because they're unlikely to be interested
in doing that. Evidence suggests that they would
prefer to get rid of their Kurds one way or another,
but the international community is interacting with
the Syrian Government and we can have some impact on
that if we join together.
Khalaf and I have the benefit as a team of one foot
in the Kurdish world and understanding of Kurdish
and Arabic language, and the other foot in the
western world and a good understanding of English
and our culture. We can find reports and talk to a
wide range of organizations and people.
Is the SKS completely
independent from Kurdish political parties?
Yes, Khalaf and I are clearly affected by our own
individual political outlooks but we do not bring
any Party Politics to bear on SKS. Our views may co-incide
with Political Parties sometimes, but we would
choose only to take what we agree with and leave the
rest. We will sometimes be influenced by what
someone has said or done but that is different from
supporting a Party.
People who belong to a Party have duties and
obligations to that Party that bind them. We don't
have those chains to hold us back. We can say what
we think is right for Kurds.
Does it has any contacts
with Syrian Kurdish parties? Like PYD, Yekiti and
others?
We have contact with individuals who belong to and
speak on behalf of Political Parties. We are aware
that proscribed groups do not have a voice and we
have to tread carefully to stay within the law, but
sometimes what they say is very sensible and we will
not shy away from reporting this. Khalaf is a member
of the Kurdish Yekiti Party in Syria - UK Branch. He
was the media relations committee member.
What are the negative and
good points of the recent HRW report on the Syrian
Kurds?
The HRW report is the result of 5 years of research,
which gives it real credibility. It's not been
written quickly, and it is based on fact and
research amongst Kurds in Syria. Any researcher is
limited by the situation there - people cannot talk
freely without fearing retribution, but as this has
built on information coming in over time, it must be
regarded with high respect.
Our disappointment comes in their call to the
international community. We wish it were stronger.
All Western Governments will say they mention human
rights abuses of Kurds in dealings with the Syrian
Government, but that is not enough. They need to
make any dealings conditional on positive change for
the Kurds. Throughout recent history,www.ekurd.netKurds
have been used where it suits someone else's purpose
and then they are discarded when they are not needed
any more. That is not good enough. The doors to the
international community are opening and the
situation for Kurds in Syria is becoming worse. How
can this be right? Making the abuse 'part of the
discussions' is not a strong demand. The demand
needs to be proportionate to the abuse, not to the
advantage that the other country can get for itself,
or for 'peace' in the Middle East. How can it be
'peace' when people are suffering like this.
The report details the major means of control - the
State of Emergency, Decree 49. There are areas that
HRW have not touched on, probably because it fell
outside their remit. Kurdish conscripts have been
killed whilst in the army - they have bullets in
their heads, but their families are told they
committed suicide.
Also water is a big issue. The area is suffering the
effects of climate change and there is less rain in
the Kurdish areas than there used to be. This has
been an agricultural area. The Syrian Government is
not bringing aid to these people. At the same time,
Turkey is re-directing water back into itself away
from the Kurdish area of Syria, so there are two
water-based pressures driving people out of their
Kurdish homelands. This together with the effects of
Decree 49 is leading to an ethnic cleansing of Kurds
from the region. Discussions with Turkey to open the
Turkey/Syria border will be another way to influence
people to go.
We would like to see the HRW report being taken
seriously across the world before ethnic-cleansing
of Kurds, or genocide comes.
More info:
http://supportkurds.org
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, Rudaw net
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