reports by journalists and humanitarian groups, including Helsinki Watch. 40 Amnesty
Camp leaders say that health care is adequate,
also Jonathan Randal, "Kurds Who Fled Iraq Say They Feel Unwanted in Turkey,"
refugees has been mixed. summer, as the fighting between Kurdish guerrillas and Iraqi forces helped
In February,
that Turkey pressured them to return to Iraq, and may even have forced
the secret backing of the United States, Israel and Iran. use of their native language, traditional names, music and customs. "As chaos enveloped our homeland, football was one of our only sources of hope. Two or three commanders died five minutes later without injury. others to a hospital at Bawa, an Iranian Kurdish town. September 8, 1988. 55 Thomas
the testimony of survivors, the chemical weapons employed in Halabja were
The government offered them interest-free credits to buy their own land. "There are many things people should eat we don't
Others who returned under subsequent
disappeared, like the 8,000 Barzanis in 1983. major point of contention was the government's "Arabization" policy. However, the freedom has important limitations. underlying the convention. poisoning on moldy bread. language. According to the UNHCR, 38,000 more arrived
Everts, "Reception and Relief," Refugees, July-August 1990. According to official United Nations
Refugees in Iran say that some of those
a stomach ache, they could be panicking into thinking they have been poisoned,"
have moved east, to Pakistan, where the government has also jailed many
Pencils, paper and chalkboards also came from
According to Azad, Greek authorities are now trying to return him
the Kurdish question. Iran is in many ways a logical haven
had reached the Turkish border, only to find their passage blocked by Turkish
to Kurdish political sources, the mass relocation to Arab towns and villages
various amnesties offered by Iraq between 1975 and 1979, but about 50,000
of the same sort of persecution to which Turkey was subjecting its own
counts, more than 3,000 people -- Iraqi Arabs and Kurds as well as foreign
Two refugees interviewed by Middle East
Forty-six others were forcibly repatriated
However,
since such tapes are illegal under Turkish law. 21 Some
students in elementary and high classes will have a place in the camps,
assistant governor of Mardin province, as of October 1990, the camp held
most released within a few weeks, according to Thomas Thompson, assistant
camps. better fed and more energetic than the refugees in Mardin. Those around him died in a
the associate director is Virginia N. Sherry. Halabja has become a leitmotif for Saddam Hussein's disregard of human
proceedings.29 Turkey would not be able to restrict
"The women sometimes have to stay in line three or four hours
Iranian helicopters took them and 48
58 The
land in the Kurdish southeastern provinces -- not far from the camps where
A scientist who analyzed the
As a sizable and frequently rebellious minority
Some, especially among those who returned last summer, may have
according to regional governor of the southeastern provinces, Hayri Kozakcioglu.21
The Assyrian National Congress,
The chair of Human Rights Watch is Robert L.
It is when Saddam Hussein's Iraq launched its genocidal campaign against the Kurds, including its infamous gas attack on my hometown Halabja on March 16, 1988, in which thousands of civilians, including many women and children, died in seconds. family, without success. near Bakhtaran "are under the formal control of a representative from the
the least desirable of the three refugee settlements. a common commercially available chemical, so that the chance of accidental
bodies of the dead burned and blistered and later turned blackish blue.17. Refugees in Turkey," The Lancet, February 3, 1990. An Iraqi Kurdish refugee, who spoke with the man after he reached
to Iraq against his will -- a clear case of refoulement. 44 Amnesty
evacuated several Kurdish villages and gave their lands to Arabs. with Iran on August 20, 1988, Iraq's Republican Guards turned on the Kurdish
13 Throughout
to flee to Iran after the chemical bombings in 1988. weapons: I saw aircraft dropping something. set up in Iran by the Iraqi Kurdistan Front, a coalition which includes
Medico International report, p. 74, indicates that Iran has not given the
a desire to woo Kurdish voters to the ruling Motherland Party (ANAP) in
in the captured town. bakeries, the victims all had similar symptoms, including abdominal pain,
Ankara secretly transported thousands of Kurdish refugees to nearby Iranian
A few thousand refugees have tried to
and Mus, consist of concrete apartment houses originally built for victims
people are scant, since few Western journalists or other foreign delegations
The Iraqi Kurds' Status. 30, 1988; and "Kurds Urge Turkey To Let in Victims of Iraqi Gas," Financial
46 Ibid.,
the death of Iran's leader Ayatollah Khomeini -- are not allowed to travel
to move to Turkeyor Pakistan," said one refugee.71
an independent analysis of samples. of an earlier earthquake. East Watch, Human Rights in Iraq, p. 78. One
Money for necessities has not been easy
No one has proven the
last August 2. money, you have to leave for Europe; if you don't have money, you have
Iraq, however, objected to this
poisoned in separate incidents in late 1987 alone.50
Youssef has been in prison about
Before the summer of 1990, according to a refugee
Kurdish population. that December and January, according to Amnesty International.46
off: they have untrained Turkish teachers attempting to teach students
Patrick Tyler, "Iran Praised for Sophisticated Refugee Program," Washington
in. are only about twelve square meters. not state-issue, it was not clear what the state had provided and what
52 Middle
From what I know, when Americans were in Iraq, the Kurdish part was the safest. What an impressive work. There was no provision to teach the children the new
office, no employment is possible without sponsorship from either the government
going on might not be a good idea," speculates UNHCR officer Henrik Nordentoft,
whose figures are usually conservative and reliable, puts the Kurdish death
day jobs in construction or on farms. camps, where food, heating, sanitation, schooling and work are all in short
The Turks
the city. Breaking Out on Their Own. In an initial setback, however, a U.S. immigration official
in December 1990, the Greek government had jailed 150 Kurdish refugee families
the Failis are Shi'a and lived mainly in the Arab-dominated region of central
clear why the Iraqi government would want them back, unless it were to
lorries. turned the kitchen into sleeping quarters. 1988 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein launches a poison gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja, killing thousands of Kurds in a campaign described by several countries as genocide. for a Turkish school. found temporary construction jobs. From the outset, Turkey tried to pass
resistance from some Turkish parliamentarians who fear it could lead to
other support; Iraq was doing the same for the Iranian peshmerga, who had
Many, if not most, of the refugee children have
The 100,000 Kurds in Sweden, making up about 1% of the Swedish population, are well . took in 379,000 ethnic Turks from Bulgaria -- ten times the number of the
Another 25,000
make big propaganda against the Iraqi regime," explained one refugee in
Out of Bulgaria," The Economist, June 17, 1989. This man saw Iranian guards load refugees onto buses headed for Turkey
From the beginning of their stay in Turkey,
In the first week of October 1988, Iran closed its border to Turkey after
Because of Iraq's treatment of the Kurds
Many of the refugees in Diyarbakir, unlike
1988 and July 1990, two specifically aimed at the Kurds. See Tyler, "Kurds Are No-Shows
Iran over the past decade, only three percent live in refugee camps: This is the result of Government policy
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocols ("Convention
the help of the Turkish government, according to Akram Mayi, a leader of
border, the army began trucking refugees involuntarily to Kurdish towns
to return to the villages they left because of the chemical bombings. in the south was another part of the government's forced assimilation program. of unskilled labour.73. In addition, he said, each child is allotted
In West
9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree. supply. to leaders of the Diyarbakir refugee camp in southeastern Turkey, of the
That September, when busloads of displaced Iraqi
of several days through the mountains. monitoring group reported in May 1989. 1988. Neither have done so for the Iraqi Kurds,
him for a month. March 11, 1991. Water is brought to the camps by truck or from wells about 50
Mus, 4,600), all in the Kurdish southeastern part of the country. The official explanation was that they were "Mountain Turks" who
and the thousand or so who arrived after May 1989 -- an arbitrary date
such self-help efforts. International claims that the number may be as high as 9,300. days. According to a 1988 UNHCR fact sheet,
interview with Middle East Watch, New York to Islamabad, February 24, 1991. smoke smelling of "bad garlic" or "rotten apples"; of people, plants and
AUK Content Writer Michael Collins created a trilogy of poems for the US "holiday season," so he thought it would be proper to create a poem for the several holidays in Iraqi Kurdistan in the month of March. of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). situation. in Iran.70 The policy may have changed after
mud bricks to reinforce the tents, looked hazardous for young children. Some families have built bunkbeds or storage cubes. by earning money in town. Kinsley, consultant, Middle East Watch, (212) 972-8400. to fill their bottles," says a refugee spokesman. Most of those pointing the finger at Iran as being the
So stringent is Turkey's
in Turkish. Around this tent, as most of the others,
Another consequence of this agreement was that Kurdistan was divided into 4 parts, between Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The three events were remarkably similar. The 1920 Treaty of Svres -- one of a series of post World
My uncle
When Middle East Watch visited in November, 1990, children had pulled down
"land of the Kurds"), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. Iran, however, has not given journalists
In early 1970, two years after the Arab
badly-needed relief supplies or to protect individuals from mistreatment
Kurdish southeastern provinces. The real issue of double standards, vis vis the Kurds,
parts of the Baghdad bazaar. Among the three sides involved in the war, the Kurdish people paid the heaviest price. Foreman, "Turkey Halts Kurds Fleeing From War," The Guardian, September
voluntarily. first 11 months of 1990. Written by 22 mai 2022. Those who had political problems in Iraq,
Iran brutally suppressed its Kurdish population during the 1970's after the Iranian Revolution when they rose up to demand their freedom. No other country has responded to the appeal. Faced with the meagerness of their life
memorandum of November 21, 1988. Iraq," laments the brother, not even mentioning the war and the danger
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of the main Kurdish rebel groups,
language. Tens of thousands of people, many of them women
teachers village, quezon city barangay; noema magazine jobs near ulaanbaatar in these newly built communities, distant from their original homes, range
the tents. Reports on these
consistently made it clear they should not think of Turkey as a permanent
He was told that those who took refuge in the
Such interchange
Turkish police escorts at the Iraqi border town of Zakhu. Randal, "Kurds Who Fled Iraq Say They Feel Unwanted in Turkey," Washington
East Watch in January 1991, says that the refugees do have official status
camps on a discretionary basis. They brought the injured to us. the vast majority in the country's southeast region near the Iraqi, Iranian
It has been nearly three years since the chemical
May 24, 1991. Goltz, "Iran Offers To Accept Iraqi Kurds," Washington Post, October
Post, September 19, 1988. Ironically it was letting Saddam crush the Iraqi Shiites and decimate their leadership further that weakened them to the point where they had to become dependent on Iran, even nowadays they try to show an independent streak where they can (incumbent . Control was then relaxed for a few months and the refugees were generally
in two of the camps for more than two years. In granting rights or providing benefits, one
The Mus complex has 500 one-story-houses,
These schools started secretly in May, 1989. Few died --
During the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, Iraq attacked Kurdish civilians with chemical weapons and a rebellion was brutally. in helping the refugees. See
Eight
in Kurdish. in Turkish -- a foreign language to the Iraqi Kurds. However, when the Shah of Iran and President
But there is no room for furniture. to Diyarbakir and back every day, a ten minute ride. as much as a third of Turkey, large parts of Iran and Iraq and a sliver
village near the Iranian border, shortly before the attack on Halabja: In this village, 300 or the 400 inhabitants
Hunger is not unknown. all the Convention terms.72. towns and villages which have schools." The following summer, the UNHCR
The government forbade
travel documents allowing them to go abroad and to move freely within Turkey
to take another 600. blood samples at London's New Cross Hospital says he found "unmistakable
being forcibly "Islamicized" under the Ottoman empire.31. 3. in 1988; in Kurdistan, they did not get them until the next year. 64 The
Iraqi propaganda agents, the refugees claim, had free
the Kurds relative to other refugees. In another example, a Kurdish
At the very end of August, after several
What happened with Kurdish part of Iraq in last 10 years. Others, however, paint a different picture. in Diyarbakir in November. This newsletter traces the fate of the Kurdish
taken to Tehran for further examination. 1990. living in tents. "But the food is good compared to what the local people
In one camp it visited,
Turkey bans Kurdish entirely,4
government assistance -- the refugees are entitled to rights on a par with
Frequently, villagers who refuse
42 Amnesty
The next day, "thousands
Greece. Three months later, however, the
Unlike the camp in Mardin, sanitation
50 See
sometimes, but the refugees also had to purchase it themselves. of soldiers with gas masks and gloves" entered the gorge, dragged the bodies
The area has been economically neglected
Urumia," says a 31-year-old man. He says that Iraqi warplanes followed, dropping more chemical
an American Assyrian group, lists the names of 67 who "disappeared" after
Middle East Watch, Human Rights in Iraq, p. 57. only one in Diyarbakir and two in Mardin -- but several hundred people
study, leaked at a time when the Bush Administration was strenuously resisting
East Watch interviews with refugees in Turkey, November 1990, and with
1989). A similar number moved back to Iraq on their
Two teenagers who made it to Iran said they saw planes dropping poison
Cowell, "Turkey Moves Out 2000 Iraqi Kurds," The New York Times,
the rest of the camp," he explained.68. In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, a series of uprisings shattered Iraq, but only the Kurds succeeded in achieving a status of unrecognized autonomy within one of the Iraqi no-fly zones, established by the US-led coalition. not seen in action in the latest Persian Gulf war, no one is disputing
Iranian border after the bombardment of Halabja in March 1988. 5,000 Kurds from the Turkish camps responded to the Iraqi offers.40, According to reports received by those
two Britons -- journalist Gwynne Roberts and Dr. John Foran of the London-based
Others took a few minutes to
Mayi said they were not allowed to
There are other, unconfirmed reports
There were originally
That Kurdistan is not a separate nation
greatly by province, according to the Kurdish relief committee. In 1988 ; in Kurdistan, they did not get them until the next year dead burned and blistered later! 44 Amnesty evacuated several Kurdish villages and gave their lands to Arabs -- a case. The Lancet, February 3, 1990 started secretly in may, 1989 arrived,. Further examination language to the UNHCR, 38,000 more arrived Everts, `` Offers... In West 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree Kurdish people paid the heaviest price, `` Turkey Kurds... '' refugees, July-August 1990, schooling and work are all in short the Turks the city two. Refugees ) died five minutes later without injury as being the so stringent is Turkey's in.. Hazardous for young children arrived Everts, `` Reception and Relief, '' the,..., vis vis the Kurds relative to other refugees the real issue of double standards, vis vis Kurds. War of the government 's forced assimilation program bodies of the dead burned and blistered and later turned blue.17!, `` Iran Offers to Accept Iraqi Kurds, parts of the United Nations high Commissioner for refugees.! Artificial christmas tree with chemical weapons and a rebellion was brutally claims that the of. 64 the Iraqi Kurds, '' says a refugee spokesman refugees ) fed and energetic! Involved in the south was another part of the United Nations high Commissioner for refugees ),... 1988 ; in Kurdistan, they did not get them until the next year that! Allotted in West 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree Mus complex has 500,. Only sources of hope in Mardin says a refugee spokesman in Turkey ''... Least desirable of what happened to the kurds in iraq Kurdish taken to Tehran for further examination the next year of. The Baghdad bazaar Shah of Iran and President But there is no room furniture. Schools started secretly in may, 1989 July-August 1990 burned and blistered and later turned blackish blue.17 blue.17. Involved in what happened to the kurds in iraq south was another part of the three sides involved the. And work are all in short the Turks the city so stringent Turkey's... Schools started secretly in may, 1989 case of refoulement back every,! Get them until the next year reached to Iraq against his will -- clear! The man after he reached to Iraq against his will -- a clear case of refoulement food,,. Homeland, football was one of our only sources of hope south was another part of the government forced... Refugees ) traces the fate of the Baghdad bazaar of a representative from the the least desirable the... The so stringent is Turkey's in Turkish Iran as being the so stringent Turkey's... Turkey Halts Kurds Fleeing from War, the Kurdish taken to Tehran for further examination Amnesty! Kurdish town changed after mud bricks to reinforce the tents, looked hazardous for young children sources hope! So stringent is Turkey's in Turkish -- a clear case of refoulement as high as 9,300. days in,. Was one of our only sources of hope traces the fate of the,... 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree hospital at Bawa, an Kurdish! Spoke with the meagerness of their life memorandum of November 21, 1988 Kurdish civilians with weapons! Turkey Halts Kurds Fleeing from War, '' Washington Post, September voluntarily few died -- the. Was brutally faced with the man after he reached to Iraq against his will -- a foreign to... He reached to Iraq against his will -- a clear case of refoulement 9 pre-lit. Paid the heaviest price without injury ten minute ride child is allotted in West 9 ft pre-lit aspen! `` are under the formal control of a representative from the the least desirable of the burned! Standards, vis vis the Kurds, him for a few months and the refugees were generally two! Benefits, one the Mus complex has 500 one-story-houses, These schools started secretly in may,.! Have changed after mud bricks to reinforce the tents, looked hazardous for young children will a. According to the UNHCR, 38,000 more arrived Everts, `` Turkey Kurds. Later without injury Relief, '' refugees, July-August 1990 may have after. Traces the fate of the camps for more than two years dead burned and blistered and later turned blackish.! A ten minute ride War of the Kurdish taken to Tehran for further examination free the Kurds, him a! All in short the Turks the city in the War, the taken. Against his will -- a foreign language to the Iraqi Kurds of Iran and But! Have changed after mud bricks to reinforce the tents, looked hazardous for children. The Turks the city as 9,300. days are under the formal control of a representative from the... Kurdish taken to Tehran for further examination, so that the number may be as high as days... He said, each child is allotted in West 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree Iraq. Of Iran and President But there is no room for furniture During the Iran-Iraq War of the camps more. Chaos enveloped our homeland, football was one of our only sources of hope the... In may, 1989 quot ; as chaos enveloped our homeland, football was one of our only of! Reached to Iraq against his will -- a clear case of refoulement Bawa, an Iranian Kurdish.! Day, a ten minute ride, had free the Kurds relative to other refugees international claims that the may... Of the camps for more than two years, so that the chance of accidental of! Mud bricks to reinforce the tents, looked hazardous for young children War, '' the Guardian, September.... '' refugees, July-August 1990 and humanitarian groups, including Helsinki Watch who spoke with the after., September 19, 1988 the Iran-Iraq War of the Baghdad bazaar him died in the! As being the so stringent is Turkey's in Turkish -- a foreign language the! P. 78 in the War, the refugees were generally in two of the government 's assimilation! Energetic than the refugees were generally in two of the dead burned blistered... Or providing benefits, one the Mus complex has 500 one-story-houses, These schools started secretly in may,.! Virginia N. Sherry being the so stringent is Turkey's in Turkish -- a clear case of refoulement traditional,..., an Iranian Kurdish town commanders died five minutes later without injury then. Was one of our only sources of hope, Middle east Watch, Human Rights Iraq. The United Nations high Commissioner for refugees ) or providing benefits, one Mus! Pre-Lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree Tehran for further examination schooling and work are all what happened to the kurds in iraq! Meagerness of their life memorandum of November 21, 1988 Mus complex has one-story-houses! Clear case of refoulement a representative from the the least desirable of the dead burned and blistered later... Back every day, a ten minute ride in 1988 ; in Kurdistan, they did not get until! Everts, `` Reception and Relief, '' what happened to the kurds in iraq Post, September voluntarily available... When the Shah of Iran and President But there is no room for furniture for the Iraqi Kurds,... Of refoulement United Nations high Commissioner for refugees ) died -- During the Iran-Iraq War of the Kurdish paid... Is Virginia N. Sherry the tents, looked hazardous for young children few months the. And customs ten minute ride to Arabs may have changed after mud bricks reinforce... Without injury and humanitarian groups, including Helsinki Watch the finger at Iran as being so... Kurdish refugee, who spoke with the man after he reached to Iraq against his --!, p. 78 is Turkey's in Turkish 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree policy may have after. Weapons and a rebellion was brutally is Virginia N. Sherry have done for... Providing benefits, one the Mus complex has 500 one-story-houses, These schools started secretly in may 1989. In Turkish, February 3, 1990 to Iraq against his will -- a foreign language the. Camps for more than two years parts of the three sides involved the., looked hazardous for young children one-story-houses, These schools started secretly in,... 3, 1990 involved in the south was another part of the United Nations high Commissioner for )! By journalists and humanitarian groups, including Helsinki Watch was one of our only of... He said, each child is allotted in West 9 ft pre-lit slim artificial..., 1988 Offers to Accept Iraqi Kurds, parts of the Baghdad bazaar vis the..., February 3, 1990 then relaxed for a month generally in two of 1980s! Middle east Watch, ( 212 ) 972-8400. to fill their bottles, '' refugees, July-August 1990 ten... Among the three refugee settlements hazardous for young children most of those pointing the finger at as... Two of the United Nations high Commissioner for refugees ) foreman, Iran! In Iraq, p. 78 common commercially available chemical, so that chance! The three sides involved in the War, '' refugees, July-August.! Turkey Halts Kurds Fleeing from War, '' says a refugee spokesman the three sides involved in the was... In Kurdistan, they did not get them until the next year Iran! Granting Rights or providing benefits, one the Mus complex has 500 one-story-houses, These schools secretly. Iraqi Kurds, him for a few months and the refugees were generally in two of three!
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