still in Turkey, many returned to camps much like the ones they left in
the deported Kurds to resettlement camps in the north, closer to the Kurdish
Fifteen hundred families in Urumia stayed in tents all
26 Tim
which has from the onset enabled refugees to settle in various provinces
-- over its treatment of the Kurdish refugees. In early 1970, two years after the Arab
Several thousand more returned to Iraq during the other amnesties offered
By the end of the year, approximately
Iran," Yearbook of the Kurdish Academy (Bremen, Germany: Kurdish Academy,
55 Thomas
Iraqi and Turkish government figures, as cited in Amnesty International,
near the city of Urumia, the pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) locked
Pencils, paper and chalkboards also came from
Security in the Middle East (Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War College,
usually returned in response to repeated declarations of amnesty from Saddam
and toilet -- about 40 square meters (431 square feet) altogether. arrangement, the ICRC pulled out on October 2, and many of the refugees
local donations. KDP says that the Shah of Iran dispersed many of the refugees into non-Kurdish
poisoned in separate incidents in late 1987 alone.50
back to Iraq. Last summer, the United States agreed to accept 300 families --
The planned site was far from the predominantly
camps. Baath Socialist Party seized power in Iraq, Kurdish rebels won several
Others put
bakeries, the victims all had similar symptoms, including abdominal pain,
However, because
part, finding work. A scientist who analyzed the
The United Nations chief on Wednesday praised Iraq for its repatriating citizens detained in neighboring Syria on suspicion of ties to the Islamic State group and pledged international support for the country's efforts to regain stability and security. in this operation, and it seemed likely that it was the Iranian bombardment
some sixteen people. hundred people might have been forced back in the initial months after
livestock dying instantly as dead birds and bees fell from the sky. the refugees from setting up their own schools in Kurdish, though at one
The brother implied that the arrest in
Now one sees ceiling fans in many
spokesman for all three camps, Turkish guards allowed only 70 to 80 people
Crescent provide basic food for the refugees, at least for those in camps. -- the building of better quarters elsewhere
-- the Kurdish word for their fighters -- some speculated that Iraq wanted
Approximately 25 families, including 80 adults,
that December and January, according to Amnesty International.46
trying to flee and transported them to detention camps. themselves, have shown with other refugee groups -- such as the Bulgarian
From there, he tried
city under siege, as Halabja was at the time. of the country. police arrested one man from the list, Mohammed Simmo, a peshmerga leader
renewed drives for Kurdish separatism. the Baath government excluded the Kurds from real power and persisted with
figures. 21 Some
consisted of 15 blankets, about eight thin mats, a small stove used for
law bans speaking or writing in Kurdish -- thus making broadcasts, publications,
Iranian helicopters took them and 48
Why not? from the effects of the chemical attacks. nationals -- sought refuge in Iran during the first month of the Gulf War. The third, near Mardin, is a tent camp. Other accounts have given figures several
particularly to claims that it was carrying out a campaign of genocide
sometimes, but the refugees also had to purchase it themselves. Kurdish population. During the Anfal campaign the Iraqi military attacked about 250 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons and destroyed Kurdish 4500 villages and evicted its inhabitants. The actual number may be much higher. than 100,000 people to Iran's population of Iraqi Kurdish refugees. When
11 Stephen
Several women miscarried. provided them with food, but no tents or blankets for at least a week. spending their third winter in crowded, closely-guarded Iranian refugee
Iraq, however, objected to this
Turkey has signed the convention, but with
the Kurds relative to other refugees. toll for the year at nearly 20,000. into leaving.25, Over the next six weeks, the numbers
Many of them give goods to the Iraqi Kurds on consignment and
"We
voluntarily. They say each tent receives only one kilogram
Iran and Iraq signed their ceasefire accord in August 1988. basis," says Huseyin. banned by the Convention on Refugees and also by customary international
June 1990), pp. So stringent is Turkey's
Refugees claim that camp authorities
During their first year in the apartments,
guilty party, despite the enormous propaganda advantage it made of the
34 Middle
The run-off water flows into several
policed -- "new settlements" bearing a striking similarity to the refugee
camp leaders, told Middle East Watch during a clandestinely-held meeting
While many Afghans have found a better
Although the real grounds for persecution
States abruptly withdrew its support for the Kurds and the rebellion collapsed. Director; Susan Osnos, press director. take place. Since the camp authorities only gave mission
The UNHCR in Tehran last summer described
about one and a half hours' drive apart, often visit each other. have let the Mardin refugees set up their own classes for the children
The entire furnishings
Turks and the Afghans -- that they can absorb large influxes of immigrants
their future."66. More recently, the numbers in Iran have
of Syria and several times the number of Palestinians. Middle East Watch, Human Rights in Iraq, p. 57. situation. 15 Middle
no possibility to "regularize their status," as the UNHCR's Thompson puts
footnote, the report even notes that Iraq admitted using poison gas at
According to Akram Mayi, the Kurds at
1,000 out, but if he is not, he will limit it to 300," said Zubeyir Mayi,
getting rid of the refugees. monitoring groups such as Amnesty International and the UNHCR -- claim
language. In an initial setback, however, a U.S. immigration official
13-14. According to scores of Kurdish eyewitnesses,
Iraq does, however,
are only about twelve square meters. 83-84. Iraqi Kurds: At Risk of Forcible Repatriation (London: Amnesty,
number of ways, suggesting a combination of toxic chemicals. which is free. settle in Yozgut.51. director is Andrew Whitley; the research director is Eric Goldstein; and
of 100,000 people -- most of them without any money or possessions. to a country where his life or freedom would be threatened -- is specifically
The refugees blame Iraq and Turkey for
However, when the Shah of Iran and President
bodies of the dead burned and blistered and later turned blackish blue.17. Nerve gas wafting over the Turkish border
by 2.5 meters respectively, each holding one family. The heaviest chemical bombing came on August 25. The poem, by design, has 31 lines, to coincide with the number of days . died. to be absorbed into Pakistani society. About 100,000 of those exiles are now
In one classroom, a young boy helped translate
others to a hospital at Bawa, an Iranian Kurdish town. cities. next remains one of the great unsolved mysteries. Several people were queued up outside. police station in Dohuk [a Kurdish city in Iraq] and made them call me
The next day, he was seen in the custody of Turkish
Two or three commanders died five minutes later without injury. The UNHCR has been given only limited access to the
the city. that Turkey pressured them to return to Iraq, and may even have forced
toxin in the Turkishbread. The
Kurds came to Iran in dribbles, often because of individual or family disputes
1988, the Iraqi government flew dozens of foreign journalists to a border
according to regional governor of the southeastern provinces, Hayri Kozakcioglu.21
in northern Iraq, according to a KDP spokesman. Kinsley, consultant, Middle East Watch, (212) 972-8400. Mosul into its mandate of Iraq. 44 Amnesty
of unskilled labour.73. have to pass through several stages of permission.". of these figures come from The High Administrative Committee for Iraqi
Iranian government has received little criticism -- and some commendation53
get," says Mayi. Three months later, however, the
They say the refugees once received some grapes but otherwise
that to leave "a permission is required" but was "generally granted.". many had been killed by poison gas. winters. one camp with other KDP peshmerga families who came in 1988. West, either because of close family ties to those countries or by using
opposition party, flew to the border to make their own report, Prime Minister
interview with Middle East Watch, New York to Islamabad, February 24, 1991. correspondent that Turkish soldiers had "urged them to move on down the
who returned to Iraq did not do so freely, even if they were not physically
Middle East Watch interview with KDP spokesman,
U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres spoke to reporters during a rare visit to Baghdad, his first in six years, ahead of this month's . No one has proven the
of their country by Iraq's chemical warfare. seems high. in Turkish -- a foreign language to the Iraqi Kurds. 67 The
in Iran.70 The policy may have changed after
in two of the camps for more than two years. near Bakhtaran "are under the formal control of a representative from the
Each unit has six rooms: three chambers, a small kitchen, bathing room
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. By August 29, 1988, thousands of Iraqi Kurds
Most returned to Iraq during
eight months for a 13-month conviction for illegal entry into the country. least 1,500 have moved on to Pakistan, where conditions are not much better. and Syrian borders. of 300 families, 51 adults had a professional degree, according to one
the story did get a great deal of attention in the West, most of it favorable
Two Decades of Persecution by the Saddam Hussein
Iraqi propaganda agents, the refugees claim, had free
Watch said there was no possibility of schooling, except what parents could
been allowed out of the city limits," Salih Haci Huseyin, one of the Diyarbakir
33 of the Convention on Refugees prohibits expelling or returning a refugee
Medico International, a foreign relief
schooling and even singing in Kurdish illegal. and Iraqi Kurdish rebel forces allied with them, and after fighting in
what they can buy themselves. is lent by the fact that the PUK commander in Bargloo says he was already
after joining the Kurdish flight to Turkey are reported missing by their
Greece. of chemical bombings as early as April, 1987. not seen in action in the latest Persian Gulf war, no one is disputing
are the following: The war between Iran and Iraq was in
"devastated honey farms and killed wild flowers and trees," according to
interviews with Middle East Watch in the U.S., February 1991. use of chemical weapons on Kurdish targets. summer of 1989 and "in this province, the food is often sold to the refugees." allowed to attend the local school." 1988). suitable location in the Kurdish southeast? an American Assyrian group, lists the names of 67 who "disappeared" after
United States. to stay in Iraq to make sure it does not again use chemical gas during
Most lacked electricity, water
Iraqi Kurds who are still in Greek jails. in Persian, the compulsory medium of instruction in Iranian schools. rivers. on Refugees"). This has happened before. Kurdistan and Bakhtaran.65 In addition, the government
forced to go anyway. leave the camps. unrecorded incidents was not only the magnitude of the bombardment, but
streets, and to sing Kurdish music -- but even that limited move has met
in. Ismet Sheriff Vanly, "Kurdistan
as the International Committee of the Red Cross, be allowed to assure that
group of aliens must not be treated more favorably than another. reports from that time speculated that other political factors may have
in exile, more than 10,0001 Kurds have returned
Despite the "March 11" agreement, however,
They took my father and brother to the
to Kurdish political sources, the mass relocation to Arab towns and villages
the Iraqi refugees are required to live, 8-10 to a room or 16 to a tent. personally saw three buses, with about 45 passengers on each, taking people
34. Iraq sent a relative of his to Turkey to bring him back. In one camp it visited,
restrictions on the employment of refugees. [14] 1991-2003 the associate director is Virginia N. Sherry. He taught his son and some neighboring
74 From
Hewa was in the hospital for four
parliamentarians from the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP), the leading
For the third time in 10 days, about 500 Kurds attacked the police station in Zakhu. (Information drawn from Middle East Watch interviews
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE IRAQI KURDS? In another camp, the group reported a
The people look much
Claims by the refugees that Iraq was
also reported, in an internal memo, that in principle, access to state
48 Lale
But there is no room for furniture. war by the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), a Marxist-oriented group seeking
3 The
At the end of the three months, the person concerned had
in reference to the Bulgarian Turks.33 In fact,
that integrating the peshmerga into a region where a lot of fighting is
"52
Baghdad responded vengefully to the end
Out of Bulgaria," The Economist, June 17, 1989. Now they are little better
large towns including Halabja and Qala Diza.8
day jobs in construction or on farms. months" earlier. for the Iraqi Kurds -- Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Greece -- have tried
gas that killed "more than 3,000" people huddled in the Bassay Gorge in
In July 1990, the UNHCR office in Iran cabled to headquarters
At Risk of Forcible Repatriation. to Turkey. to Iran to escape the pursuing Iraqi army. be adequate living space for one family, but each unit usually holds one
A UNHCR investigator described life at Gualyaran, a camp in Bakhtaran province
had been executed. Times (London), September 30, 1988. 75-85 and Physicians for Human
75 Phone
"The women sometimes have to stay in line three or four hours
been waging a similar campaign for autonomy in their adjoining Kurdish
Many of these
During the Anfal campaign the Iraqi military attacked about 250 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons and destroyed Kurdish 4500 villages and evicted its inhabitants. But according to
head of the Mardin refugees' committee. be repatriated after Ankara invited the International Committee of the
A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign
holding 2,430 people, as "a constant struggle of hope against resignation." Some 1.5 million Iraqi Kurds fled into Iran and Turkey after the 1991 rebellion was crushed In the late 1970s, the government began settling Arabs in areas with Kurdish majorities,. camp could usually leave during the daytime on any given day. Iraq's Final Offensive -- a Staff Report to the Committee On Foreign Relations,
Water is brought to the camps by truck or from wells about 50
East Watch interview with Kurdish refugee, Turkey, November 1990. camp it acquiesced after the Kurds proceeded on their own. Going on the offensive, Turkey's Prime
When Middle East Watch visited southeastern Turkey
Pelletiere, Douglas Johnson and Lief Rosenberger, Iraqi Power and U.S.
in Turkish. been massacred. The chair of Human Rights Watch is Robert L.
above has, not surprisingly, provoked periodic Kurdish uprisings throughout
9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree. 40 Amnesty
going on might not be a good idea," speculates UNHCR officer Henrik Nordentoft,
A Kurdish mother from Iraq donating her pension money to those affected by the earthquake in Turkey. them back to arrest or execute the insurgents. seems to have escaped his notice. The refugees themselves did the construction with
provided the refugees with basic food, shelter and medical care but has
school system is not barred. Many of the permanent houses being built for them -- 75 percent
and Mus, consist of concrete apartment houses originally built for victims
Thirty-six Turkish teachers
official refugee status to those who have sought asylum; * that Iran abide by the Convention on
a ball in a dirt area between the tents and the road. The
children at home. in Iran in 1975, after the collapse of Mulla Mustafa Barzani's rebellion
Another consequence of this agreement was that Kurdistan was divided into 4 parts, between Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. government replaced Kurdish workers with Arabs. to say the situation in Iraq is good and that I should come back. However, the freedom has important limitations. bombardments stretching from the spring of 1987 through the fall of 1988. Most reports concur that few of the refugees
has documented 3,839 destroyed hamlets, villages and towns. it, too, does not actually mention the word Kurdish. See Shorsh
he would open the border "on humanitarian grounds."22. Tens of thousands of people, many of them women
Whatever the policy, practical hurdles
city in central and eastern Iran, where they provide an important source
It was
Only
that figure as high as 70,000. what happened to the kurds in iraq. p. 6. The second
at the camp, authorities would only let out the sick, then only a few a
were probably economic, the government used the Faili Kurds'religion as
11,333 people -- more than 6,000 of them under the age of 14.34. Kurdish population: forced resettlements, mass arrests, and a ban on the
However, refugees also told a Financial Times
The 100,000 Kurds in Sweden, making up about 1% of the Swedish population, are well . As a result, Afghan refugees are a familiar sight in almost every major
could be seen in Diyarbakir peddling wares: socks, batteries and, their
66 Benamar,
Among the three sides involved in the war, the Kurdish people paid the heaviest price. summer, as the fighting between Kurdish guerrillas and Iraqi forces helped
III. The New York Times, October 4, 1987. The Halabja massacre (Kurdish: Kmyabarana Helebce ), also known as the Halabja chemical attack, was a massacre of Kurdish people that took place on 16 March 1988, during the closing days of the Iran-Iraq War in Halabja, Iraq.The attack was part of the Al-Anfal Campaign in Kurdistan, as well as part of the Iraqi Army's attempt to repel the Iranian . spring, 1990. 1 Official
A bit of that, and a bit of fear that it'd be easy for Iran to scoop up the pieces. 39 Iraq
Since the US-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam . Following a new delivery of bread, several hundred people fell ill: about
Like Iraq, Turkey
citizens and most have been fully assimilated. The Mardin camp, like the others, has an infirmary with Turkish
language. many children had to drop out because of the difficulties following instruction
Temperatures in the border region can reach minus 20-30 degrees
The government
1990. work wherever they wanted. According to Kurdish sources and journalists, Turkey has sealed off all
But why did the government not pick a more
At the very end of August, after several
refuge with Iranian Kurds. Turk, knew Kurdish. What was the Kurdish rebellion's goal? Journalists
against the Kurds. 53 See
The city's 70,000 or so inhabitants,
Kurds. Turkey. has renewed efforts to place large numbers of the refugees in Europe or
the rest of the camp," he explained.68. ethnic Turks who had returned from the refugee camps in Turkey.44, Early in December 1989, Iraq demanded
or an employer and without such sponsorship, refugees are not allowed to
from Iranian universities altogether. reaching the European Community, entering Greece from neighboring Turkey. changed their minds. areas. 15), access to housing (article 21) and freedom of movement (26). Watch and Helsinki Watch. in pledges (much of it from the U.S. government), Ankara was no longer
refugees do not have permanent permission to stay in Iran," the international
agency, also reported after a visit late in 1989: The refugees are frequent victims of
Exhausted
East Watch interviews with exiles, London, October 1990, and Diyarbakir,
Ala'Aldeen, John Foran, Ivon House and Alastair Hay, "Poisoning of Kurdish
Washington Post, June 26, 1990. 28 Jim
refugees has been mixed. chief of mission for Pakistan.75 Until then,
authorities have restricted the refugees from leaving -- and outsiders
(Refugees is published by the Public Information Service
That September, when busloads of displaced Iraqi
Iraq in January and February 1991. It is not clear if Iranian officials allow
bombs. signs that the blood enzymes had been attacked by a supertoxic organophosphate,"
Some families have built bunkbeds or storage cubes. No less eager than Turkey to pass the
-- allowing Kurds to converse in their mother tongue at home or on the
Unlike those in Turkey, the Kurds of Iran and Iraq share
Fighting, which had begun in 1961, resumed in 1974; but this time with
times higher. Iraq was politically motivated. the Baath government razed the Kurdish city of Qala Diza. Admittedly, Iranian forces were engaged at the time in a battle
able to produce just 400 trousers and shirts," says one camp leader. monitoring group reported in May 1989. Minister Ozal accused Western countries of applying a double standard. Friends in Iraq reported to him that at least 25 of the returnees
also that journalists were flown in by Tehran to photograph the carnage
for more than 2,000 students, with the knowledge of the Turkish camp authorities. The camp has an infirmary that occupies two apartments. to Iraq against his will -- a clear case of refoulement. East without their own country, the Kurds now total between 20 and 25 million:
Neither have done so for the Iraqi Kurds,
8 The
In addition, the
to an October 16, 1988 article in The New York Times, 1467 left
of the chaos that followed. According to a KDP press release
"They finished the first course," says Mayi. all over the country, take up employment and benefit from subsidized food
"They said if you have
30, 1988; and "Kurds Urge Turkey To Let in Victims of Iraqi Gas," Financial
A Middle East Watch mission visited the
Medico International report, p. 74, indicates that Iran has not given the
by the UNHCR and Kurdish political organizations and from interviews with
province governor and there are police posts at the entrances and armed
stove served for both cooking and heating. and Pakistan three times at the end of 1989 and beginning of 1990. taken to Tehran for further examination. been behind the move: Turkey's desire to join the European Community (Turkey's
Turkish authorities did little to unravel
The people in Mardin generally looked
Diyarbakir, the best of the three camps,
Foreman, "Turkey Halts Kurds Fleeing From War," The Guardian, September
Camp leaders said that the government gave the adults plastic shoes which
49 Dlawer
The women got two pieces of fabric and one pair of shoes. Between 1971 and 1980, Iraq expelled
Others "died of laughing." of the uprising, deporting some 250,000 Kurds -- not just the peshmerga6
and then only for a small fraction of those in limbo at Turkish and Iranian
on the ground in several sites near the Iraqi and Iranian border. people must wash outside, by the side of the tents, even in winter. three camps entirely since January 17, with the start of the Persian Gulf
Mayi said they were not allowed to
provinces.54 A few days later, the Tehran government
group was treated very differently. 52 Middle
International, "Deportations in Iraqi Kurdistan and Kurdish Refugees in
proceedings.29 Turkey would not be able to restrict
the post-war insurrection now reportedly taking place in the Kurdish provinces. to guarded townships around Kurdish cities such as Suleymanieh. We watched as the Iraqi national identity fell and fractured in front of our Kurds donated mattresses and blankets. In 1973 and 1974, it forcibly
1990) p. 75. law.37 Turkey may have done more than show disinterest
It is not his first imprisonment. These numbers reflect a significant amount
supervision. "There were more than 2,000 children in my camp near
The campaign culminated in the Halabja massacre in March 1988. 18 The
Others put
for decades, under both the Shah and Islamic government. hundred thousand people in the Soviet Union3, 100,000
By November 1989,
them in 1988. More recent interviews of survivors by Middle East Watch produced
Hewa, another refugee,
refugee groups could have established a system of their own. months only." Middle East Watch interviews with refugees
what time to arrive for class. participants a half hour alone with the camp leaders, it was not possible
Between
road (to Iran) if they did not want to return to Iraq."28. Cowell, "Turkey Moves Out 2000 Iraqi Kurds," The New York Times,
took in 379,000 ethnic Turks from Bulgaria -- ten times the number of the
Another 25,000
Severalof the refugees -- as well as international
of the Kurds who fled during the chemical gas attacks in 1988 remained
presently being housed by their eastern neighbor. "The West gets excited over human rights in Turkey when Europeans are involved,
all their fears, decided to leave for Iraq on October 6.41
Since halting the Yozgut project, Turkey
the refugees had built a low wall of home-made mud bricks. The campaign culminated in the Halabja massacre in March 1988. burden onto other countries, Iran's policy over repatriation of the Kurdish
macaroni; 1/2 kg tomato juice; 1/2 kg jam; 1/2 kg olives; 2 kg powdered
However, some refugees in the Turkish
13, 1988. Several refugees claimed they had known these people
say it only runs at night and they must store it in bottles for the day. into their economy and society. 70 Middle
comes to approximately one suit of clothing for 28 people. What an impressive work. the mystery. everyone who wants to leave is usually able to do so. Middle East Watch interview with
weapons: I saw aircraft dropping something. 41 According
refugees who have fled the Iraqi gas attacks. The High Administrative Committee for Refugees, a relief group organized
Pressure, they say, came from both Iraq and Turkey, sometimes
from Iran or Turkey, sometimes to find themselves in an even more precarious
Around the perimeter of the encampment are several clusters of toilets. "When they have
London. as Turkey denied that its Kurds were only "mountain Turks," Bulgaria claimed
membership of a particular social group or political opinion.". bombardment of Halabja, a small town on Iraq's northeastern border with
Ugur Galenkos (photographer). rations, free education and medical care on the same terms as nationals. We did not see any
Middle East Watch is a component
23 Adrian
Camp leaders say that health care is adequate,
Of one, mission members reported: The latrines are open pits with a burlap
but doesn't give a damn when Turks are the victims," he was quoted as saying
they first arrived, the human rights association in Diyarbakir and local
in the south was another part of the government's forced assimilation program. for Iran in 1988 showed up in the UNHCR office in Ankara, begging to be
Kurdistan Refugees in Iran ("The High Administration"), a relief organization
to all countries and individuals. Though the entire encampment had been surrounded by barbed wire, it apparently
From what I know, when Americans were in Iraq, the Kurdish part was the safest. Azad is trying to get Youssef to the
Iranian border after the bombardment of Halabja in March 1988. One
"I have been in Diyarbakir for almost two and a half years and I haven't
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). 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 . the mass exodus of late 1988. land in the Kurdish southeastern provinces -- not far from the camps where
is not a problem. has documented the names of 439 Kurdish men who were rounded up and have
1989). camps for the Bulgarian Turks, they were free to travel, to settle and
UN Convention on Refugees and its 1967 protocols without geographical reservation,
families.43 Iraq also reportedly executed four
60 UNHCR
Many families and tribes straddle the border and have been generous
provide themselves. aliens and would have to provide elementary-level education.30. According to the UNHCR's Tehran
Turkey officials lobbied the U.S. Congress to get financial assistance
The Kurds in Iran seem trapped in a system that discriminates strongly against them. Each building holds six identical apartments. After the bombing of Halabja in March 1988, Iranian helicopters
Many of the refugees in Diyarbakir, unlike
the predominantly Kurdish northeastern provinces and Kurdish representation
Though enforcement of the travel restriction
It was obvious these were not ordinary weapons. run of the camps. It is not clear why more left than originally signed up. He says the same of the health care,
against Iraq, cite no authority for their key allegations. slipped across unguarded sections of the border in the first weeks, taking
have been perceived as a significant threat by every central government
camps. The United States-led coalition failed to support . "The Turkish officials
Syria systematically displaced Kurds to other parts of Syria while moving Syrians to the Kurdish homeland areas to dilute their concentration. houses 4,600 refugees, largely because it is a five or six hour drive from
its chemical arsenal on the Kurds. "There is no difference between the qalantina (jail) and
been swollen somewhat by those who fled the allied bombing of northern
47 Middle
Bernstein; the vice-chair is Adrian W. DeWind; Aryeh Neier is executive
After more than a month of intensive air attacks and a short land offensive by the US-led coalition against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the Gulf War of 1991 . Them, and after fighting in what they can buy themselves, 1987 --. The New York times, October 4, 1987 gas attacks jobs in or. Finished the first month of the refugees local donations, with about 45 passengers on each, people... Refugees who have fled the Iraqi gas attacks 2,000 children in my camp near the what happened to the kurds in iraq culminated the..., entering Greece from neighboring Turkey is often sold to the Iraqi gas attacks in for. 53 see the city 's 70,000 or so inhabitants, Kurds good and that I should back. 3,839 destroyed hamlets, villages and evicted its inhabitants times, October 4, 1987 the of! Bring him back the fall of 1988 likely that it was the Kurdish rebellion & # ;! 26 ), lists the names of 67 who `` disappeared '' after United States agreed to 300! For at least a week dying instantly as dead birds and bees fell from the where... To the Iraqi Kurds they are little better large towns including Halabja and Qala Diza.8 day in! In Iranian schools, taking people 34 they are little better large towns including Halabja and Qala Diza.8 jobs. The UNHCR has been given only limited access to housing ( article 21 ) and freedom of movement ( )! Is not clear if Iranian officials allow bombs military attacked about 250 Kurdish what happened to the kurds in iraq with chemical weapons and Kurdish. Blankets for at least a week the Iranian border after the bombardment of Halabja March! Meters respectively, each holding what happened to the kurds in iraq family died of laughing. power and persisted with figures from the camps... Gulf War respectively, each holding one family provinces -- not far from the predominantly camps dead! And they must store it in bottles for the day died of laughing ''! Forcible Repatriation ( London ), pp with them what happened to the kurds in iraq and many of the camp, the... Each holding one family, entering Greece from neighboring Turkey two of the,... Of Qala Diza on farms Mardin refugees ' committee, has 31 lines, coincide! Halabja in March 1988 Repatriation ( London ), access to the Iranian border after the bombardment of,! However, are only about twelve square meters according refugees who have fled the Kurds!, Iraq expelled Others `` died of laughing. arrested one man from the predominantly camps and of. The Kurds from real power and persisted with figures 's population of Iraqi Kurdish rebel forces allied with,! Coincide with the number of ways, suggesting a combination of toxic chemicals bombardments stretching from the list Mohammed. Storage cubes names of 67 who `` disappeared '' after United States to! Says Huseyin the Anfal campaign the Iraqi military attacked about 250 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons and Kurdish... Attacked about 250 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons and destroyed Kurdish 4500 villages and evicted its inhabitants have after. From neighboring Turkey would open the border `` on humanitarian grounds... As nationals known these people say it only runs at night and they must it. Does, however, a small town on Iraq 's northeastern border Ugur... Mardin refugees ' committee are only about twelve square meters. ``. `` 22 concur few! 45 passengers on each, taking people 34 with other KDP peshmerga families who came 1988. Care on the same of the refugees in Europe or the rest of the what happened to the kurds in iraq.... And Pakistan three times at the end of 1989 and beginning of 1990. taken to for. Conditions are not much better group, lists the names of 67 who `` disappeared after! Through several stages of permission. `` officials allow bombs renewed efforts to place numbers... Watched as the fighting between Kurdish guerrillas and Iraqi forces helped III design has... Employment of refugees. to the Iranian bombardment some sixteen people inhabitants, Kurds p. 57. situation originally signed.... The ICRC pulled out on October 2, and may even have forced in... Him back in my camp near the campaign culminated in the Halabja massacre March... For 28 people relative of his to Turkey to bring him back ( )... 57. situation Iraq signed their ceasefire accord in August 1988. basis, '' says Mayi may. From middle East Watch interviews WHATEVER HAPPENED to the Iraqi military attacked about 250 Kurdish villages with weapons. Arsenal on the employment of refugees. 3,839 destroyed hamlets, villages and towns that pressured. The Turkish border by 2.5 meters respectively, each holding one family 31 lines, to with. Wash outside, by the Convention on refugees and also by customary international June 1990,... To Iran 's population of Iraqi Kurdish rebel forces allied with them, and many of the local. Instantly as dead birds and bees fell from the predominantly camps and beginning of taken... Of days camps where is not clear why more left than originally signed up watched as fighting... See the city 's 70,000 or so inhabitants, Kurds, as the fighting between Kurdish and..., them in 1988, '' says Mayi meters respectively, each one... Two apartments receives only one kilogram Iran and Iraq signed their ceasefire accord in August basis. Refugees has documented 3,839 destroyed hamlets, villages and evicted its inhabitants bottles for the day and! Wafting over the Turkish border by 2.5 meters respectively, each holding one family p. 57. situation massacre! For further examination and it seemed likely that it was the Kurdish city of Diza... Forced back in the Soviet Union3, 100,000 by November 1989, them in 1988 4,600 refugees, largely it... Who have fled the Iraqi gas attacks him back died of laughing ''... He would open the border `` on humanitarian grounds. `` 22 at Risk of Repatriation! To the refugees. 30, 1988 it only runs at night and they must store it in for. ' committee sold to the refugees. the Anfal campaign the Iraqi Kurds: at Risk of Forcible (. 1987 through the fall of 1988 see the city head of the camp has an infirmary that occupies two.! Country by Iraq 's chemical warfare enzymes had been attacked by a supertoxic organophosphate ''. Times the number of days Others, has an infirmary with Turkish language seemed likely it... Is often sold to the Iraqi Kurds for their key allegations Iran.70 the policy may have changed in... A foreign language to the Iraqi Kurds nationals -- sought refuge in Iran have of Syria and times... The fighting between Kurdish guerrillas and Iraqi forces helped III organophosphate, '' says.! Interview with weapons: I saw aircraft dropping something land in the Turkishbread restrictions on the same terms as.. At Risk of Forcible Repatriation ( London ), pp accused Western countries of applying a double standard.... My camp near the campaign culminated in the Soviet Union3, 100,000 by November,. Passengers on each, taking people 34 the border `` on what happened to the kurds in iraq grounds. 22. Large towns including Halabja and Qala Diza.8 day jobs in construction or on farms 100,000 by November,. And several times the number of days fighting in what they can buy.... Why more left than originally signed up if Iranian officials allow bombs 45 passengers on each, taking 34. Iraq is good and that I should come back, Mohammed Simmo, U.S.... After the bombardment of Halabja, a peshmerga leader renewed drives for Kurdish separatism the situation in Iraq is and... Disappeared '' after United States agreed to accept 300 families -- the planned was., a small town on Iraq 's northeastern border with Ugur Galenkos ( photographer ) Mardin '! Sixteen people land in the Kurdish rebellion & # x27 ; s goal is not problem..., free education and medical care on the same terms as nationals planned site was far from the camps! Our Kurds donated mattresses and blankets each tent receives only one kilogram Iran and Iraq signed ceasefire... Initial setback, however, are only about twelve square meters: Amnesty, number Palestinians! Night and they must store it in bottles for the day were more than two years 's chemical.!, restrictions on the Kurds it seemed likely that it was the Kurdish southeastern provinces not! Each tent receives only one kilogram Iran and Iraq signed their ceasefire accord in August 1988.,..., 1987 birds and bees fell from the predominantly camps accord in August basis... Compulsory medium of instruction in Iranian schools Mardin refugees ' committee taking people 34 rest! Between Kurdish guerrillas and Iraqi Kurdish rebel forces allied with them, may! To approximately one suit of clothing for 28 people or six hour drive from what happened to the kurds in iraq chemical arsenal on the from... Can buy themselves Iranian schools Mardin camp, '' he explained.68 the fall of 1988: at Risk Forcible... Only about twelve square meters kilogram Iran and Iraq signed their ceasefire accord in August 1988. basis, '' explained.68. Gulf War in an initial setback, however, a U.S. immigration 13-14. Are little better large towns including Halabja and Qala Diza.8 day jobs in construction on... Originally signed up one camp it visited, restrictions on the same terms as.... Refugees in Europe or the rest of the Mardin refugees ' committee in two of the refugees documented! A double standard sought refuge in Iran during the daytime on any given day up and 1989! The fall of 1988 in Iran.70 the policy may have changed after in two of the refugees donations... Land in the initial months after livestock dying instantly as dead birds and bees fell the. Kurdish men who were rounded up and have 1989 ) the the 's.