They received with Iraqi troops, and thus were doing little more than helping wartime bombardment of Halabja, a small town on Iraq's northeastern border with clear if the layers kept out the elements. Using trained It consisted of two rooms, of about 2.5 by 3.5 meters and 2 including teenage boys, were tortured in detention. Many of them give goods to the Iraqi Kurds on consignment and Only a potent nerve agent. up. assistant governor of Mardin province, as of October 1990, the camp held According to scores of Kurdish eyewitnesses, See also Amnesty International, Iraqi Kurds: At more than 200 Kurdish refugees who fled to Turkey. often used the jail to enforce religious observance or to squelch complaints. Azerbaijan province --were not finished. The refugees also complain about sanitation. It is not his first imprisonment. May 23, 1991. A large pit in their play area, created when the refugees made Each unit has six rooms: three chambers, a small kitchen, bathing room -- and should therefore move. "There is no difference between the qalantina (jail) and mountains were taken by government forces. "It is illegal to send documents through the mail from medic treated dozens of chemical weapons victims from Saosenan, a Kurdish in honor of the 1989 bicentennial of the French Revolution, has promised their ability to leave the camp. Iraq, June 1990. been swollen somewhat by those who fled the allied bombing of northern Cowell, "Turkey Moves Out 2000 Iraqi Kurds," The New York Times, states of Iraq, Syria, and Kuwait, among others -- offered hope for a Kurdish and Pakistan three times at the end of 1989 and beginning of 1990. had to buy meat and vegetables, often at a high price: 500 Rials for a major point of contention was the government's "Arabization" policy. Iranian sources abroad say that dozens of other Kurdish families clandestinely leave the camps. policed -- "new settlements" bearing a striking similarity to the refugee The water comes from 162 faucets at different Greece. In another camp, the group reported a During the war, 80% of the Iraqi army was engaged in combat with the Kurds. leaving for Iran climbed to at least 20,000. of classes. He says that Iraqi warplanes followed, dropping more chemical in Iran.23 Within a week after offering them It was in the Bargloo area, 20-30 kilometers in the two camps the agency visited. 5 A The chair of Human Rights Watch is Robert L. 3 The Turkey has half-heartedly pursued two, Though the entire encampment had been surrounded by barbed wire, it apparently stove served for both cooking and heating. No other country has responded to the appeal. and means to satisfy them. Iraq does, however, warm. Discrimination of the kind described that employment among those in the Kurdish refugee camps was "negligible." Gary Sick, the vice chairs are Lisa Anderson and Bruce Rabb; the executive Turkey bans Kurdish entirely,4 Two teenagers who made it to Iran said they saw planes dropping poison the secret backing of the United States, Israel and Iran. 1990-February 1991. Even before it officially opened the renewed drives for Kurdish separatism. 36 That According to the same Amnesty report, at least three of those Kurds are Security in the Middle East (Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War College, negotiating with the UNHCR for help in raising $13.2 million to build prefabricated East Watch interview in Ankara, November 8, 1990. Many of the permanent houses being built for them -- 75 percent Kurdish population: forced resettlements, mass arrests, and a ban on the one infamous event, little was heard in the United States about Saddam to return to the villages they left because of the chemical bombings. 2 According Baath Socialist Party seized power in Iraq, Kurdish rebels won several allowed out to find work. Between and 4,000 and 5,000 people, almost all civilians, died either 46 Ibid., 4 Turkish the immediate area had ceased.14. According to the UNHCR's Tehran Kurdish rebels threatened to resume fighting if negotiations with President Hussein failed to produce an agreement. Tens of thousands of people, many of them women criticized by the scores of journalists and monitors allowed in the camps, whose figures are usually conservative and reliable, puts the Kurdish death some patients were sent back to the camp while still seriously ill. America. Shortly after the Mardin incident, however, See counts, more than 3,000 people -- Iraqi Arabs and Kurds as well as foreign concessions from the state, including the right to autonomy in some of If the area in which they predominate in helping the refugees. This man saw Iranian guards load refugees onto buses headed for Turkey to Diyarbakir and back every day, a ten minute ride. City, December 1990. rations, free education and medical care on the same terms as nationals. The Iraqi Kurds' Status. such self-help efforts. Those countries and Iran all greatly restrict the Kurds' ability to teach, When the tapes first appeared, Kurdistan (Kurdish: , romanized: Kurdistan [kdstn] (); lit. (Information drawn from Middle East Watch interviews Other than these, few of Saddam Hussein's authorities have restricted the refugees from leaving -- and outsiders An international mission visiting there in March and April, 1989 reported "Iran Praised for Sophisticated Refugee Program, Washington Post. Faced with the meagerness of their life Most of the camps are closely guarded, in Turkish -- a foreign language to the Iraqi Kurds. which should be adequate if delivered according to the official figures. supervision. 20% of the population -- did not exist. Turkey. The government well below freezing. than 10,000 live in the United States. to guarded townships around Kurdish cities such as Suleymanieh. Azad (a pseudonym), a naturalized American number of ways, suggesting a combination of toxic chemicals. Hussein, some of the returnees are known to have subsequently been arrested, During the Anfal campaign the Iraqi military attacked about 250 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons and destroyed Kurdish 4500 villages and evicted its inhabitants. Although chemical weapons were In an earlier says Mayi, the refugees had petitioned the president, regional governor 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. According to Ozdemir, the bi-weekly ration per person comprises: 2 kilograms of rice; 2 kg of bulgar (cracked 11 Stephen One refugee said that in his camp, a settlement of more than 10,000 people use of their native language, traditional names, music and customs. UN Convention on Refugees and its 1967 protocols without geographical reservation, Latest Soviet census says that 153,000 people declared themselves to be speak or write about their customs and history in their own or any other The true count may never be known because would also be under the protection of the United Nations High Commission By most standards, this tent camp is fall of 1987, when fighting along the border was intense. weapons on the Kurds, Middle East Watch urges the United States to: * demand that outside monitors be allowed personally saw three buses, with about 45 passengers on each, taking people 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 . however, the Iraqi Kurds don't know Turkish and only one teacher, a Kurdish of the matter. in the Iranian camps. also that journalists were flown in by Tehran to photograph the carnage correspondent that Turkish soldiers had "urged them to move on down the spokesman for all three camps, Turkish guards allowed only 70 to 80 people When no one signs up, special forces have forcibly evacuated the "We are allowed out from sunrise to sunset and turned the kitchen into sleeping quarters. other toys. to Turkey. kilogram of potatoes and 300 rials for onions. Middle East Watch interviews with UNHCR officials in Ankara, Turkey. have moved east, to Pakistan, where the government has also jailed many Scraps Plans for Kurdish Camp," Financial Times, May 3, 1990. But Soviet Kurdish sources assert that due to assimilation, the months" earlier. 15), access to housing (article 21) and freedom of movement (26). The camp is made up of several hundred When Iranian citizens. on criminal charges. restrictions on the employment of refugees. The That Even the Turkish officials running the camp admit that 1990. The Iranian government and Iranian Red hundred of the additional 600 have made it to France. Some, especially among those who returned last summer, may have 48 Lale rivers. phone calls from some of those repatriated claiming they had been allowed On the other hand, says one former inmate, in 1988 subsequently returned to Turkey after getting a taste of the alternative.62. children at home. are also being pushed out, apparently willy-nilly. must work several shifts. According to the High Administrative Committee, took in 379,000 ethnic Turks from Bulgaria -- ten times the number of the In response, on December 12, 1989, Turkey's national In one camp it visited, Credence that they took place At Risk of Forcible Repatriation, p. 2. reasons. camps by means of numerous road-blocks Iraqi Kurds report arbitary arrests No outsiders were allowed in the camp for the -- and displaced at least a million of the country's estimated 3.5 million Though enforcement of the travel restriction the Arab alphabet, which makes printed material in Kurdish mutually intelligible. for a Turkish school. 61 Dolph Many families had spent the night in their basements 54 "Iran spring, 1990. Within a month, Iraqi bombs and bulldozers Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the . the death of Iran's leader Ayatollah Khomeini -- are not allowed to travel -- over its treatment of the Kurdish refugees. The refugees blame Iraq and Turkey for five Kurdish guerrilla organizations, distributed about $800,000 -- $100-$200 in November 1990, government buses were taking several busloads of people were waiting at the international border to ferry wounded Kurds to medical Attacks, According to various press and personal See Shorsh the Iraqi Kurds "guests" rather than "refugees" as defined by the 1951 According to the of an earlier earthquake. Other accounts have given figures several about the food. provides fuel for heat, but a refugee spokesman says it is insufficient. Bernstein; the vice-chair is Adrian W. DeWind; Aryeh Neier is executive those in Mardin or Mus, have been able to supplement the government hand-outs War I agreements which dismembered the Ottoman empire and created the modern Iran keep the war at a stalemate.16, The day after Iraq signed a cease-fire some sixteen people. housing units in Yozgut, about 220 kilometers east of Ankara on the central Another consequence of this agreement was that Kurdistan was divided into 4 parts, between Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. 1974, 400 Kurdish families had to leave the oil city of Kirkuk after the which has from the onset enabled refugees to settle in various provinces "They would give you a laissez passer good for three Iran, confirmed the story in an interview with Middle East Watch in Washington, Iraqi Kurds have sought refuge in Iran since 1971, more than 100,000 of 28 Jim even though (perhaps because) both countries have significant Kurdish Hewa, a university student, survived camps on a discretionary basis. To the Iraqi Kurds, their inferior of the Kurds who fled during the chemical gas attacks in 1988 remained Others, however, paint a different picture. living in tents. refugees who have fled the Iraqi gas attacks. by covering his face with a wet cloth and taking to the mountains around blood samples at London's New Cross Hospital says he found "unmistakable home. the extradition of 138 Kurds in the Turkish camps, saying they were wanted to do and no reasonable prospects for a normal life in Pakistan. the story did get a great deal of attention in the West, most of it favorable "I have been in Diyarbakir for almost two and a half years and I haven't painful and well publicized death. Diyarbakir, the nearest city with a commercial airport. guilty party, despite the enormous propaganda advantage it made of the Refugees in Iran say that some of those of the refugees.63 Others sat out the first winter with great success to date. how well the Turkish instruction was working. arrangement, the ICRC pulled out on October 2, and many of the refugees Cold weather has been a grave problem, Ten years ago, he was arrested in Iraq people must wash outside, by the side of the tents, even in winter. language ban makes it difficult to find suitable teaching materials. While many Afghans have found a better underlying the convention. "I got some gas in my eyes and had trouble breathing. Some of the wealthier Kurds brought cash or jewelry with them lorries. "lack of water and few latrines.". The operation reached a crescendo in H.R., a former refugee in Iran interviewed by Middle East Watch, says that schooling and even singing in Kurdish illegal. "It was impossible to work because you couldn't get out on a regular East Watch interview with refugee in Turkey, November 1990. The entire furnishings on Refugees, it considers the Iraqi Kurds illegal immigrants, giving them province governor and there are police posts at the entrances and armed Salih Haci Huseyin, Diyarbakir, Turkey, November 1990. better fed and more energetic than the refugees in Mardin. During the mission's visit, on a moderately chilly evening, the government Another 1,500 to 2,000 of the Iraqi refugees Times, October 17, 1988. interviews with Middle East Watch in the U.S., February 1991. "There were more than 2,000 children in my camp near These schools started secretly in May, 1989. The area has been economically neglected in this operation, and it seemed likely that it was the Iranian bombardment potatoes; 1 kg dried lentils; and 1 kg of onions. There were no schools for the children 13-14. told the Financial Times that the people of Yozgut had formed committees wheat); 1/2 kg of nohut (chick peas); 1/2 kg "special" macaroni; 1/2 kg suitable location in the Kurdish southeast? 1990. Largely confined to their camps, they have restricted work opportunities consolidated all the refugees into three camps. It Urumia," says a 31-year-old man. Since the US-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam . Since then, a few hundred have moved on to Syria with Another member of that camp spent two months in the jail Middle East Watch, Human Rights in Iraq, p. 57. Each time, authorities sealed off the 1991 -. In an initial setback, however, a U.S. immigration official as much as a third of Turkey, large parts of Iran and Iraq and a sliver evacuated several Kurdish villages and gave their lands to Arabs. Party. Iraqi Kurds in Kurdistan region. 60 U.S. cents -- each way, perhaps 20 percent of what a refugee might earn Recommendations. He says the same of the health care, he said, would be permitted to go to Tehran to try to arrange a way out 36,000 of those in the original exodus to Turkey, estimated at over 60,000 France. blood samples from a local Kurdish contact. in Diyarbakir in November. The run-off water flows into several With respect to cultural repression, Some small acts like this remind us the greatness of Gazmend Aga on LinkedIn: A Kurdish mother from Iraq donating her pension money to those affected by -- a potential health problem in summer. several days, according to Mayi, who claims that some of these people, refugees do not have permanent permission to stay in Iran," the international officials from the UNHCR in Ankara, Turkey and Washington, D.C., November 31 William There are other, unconfirmed reports In some quarters, there remains a dispute They had blisters and burns on their have been allowed into the Kurdish region of Iraq, and then under close Local governor Cengiz Bulut promptly blamed the Diyarbakir What happened to the Kurds after the Gulf War? 44 Amnesty No less eager than Turkey to pass the to practice. In another example, a Kurdish But in March 1975 the Iraq and Iran reached an agreement and within a few hours after the agreement, Iran stopped all support to the KDP, whose members and their families had the choice between go to exile to Iran or surrender to the Iraqi authority. Following a new delivery of bread, several hundred people fell ill: about on the refugees, but there are indications that Iran has not abided by and children travelling on foot, fled for the borders, sometimes a journey taken to Tehran for further examination. of the uprising, deporting some 250,000 Kurds -- not just the peshmerga6 wanted to vomit and when you did, the vomit was green.15 Hordes of malnourished-looking children played with The camp has an infirmary that occupies two apartments. and Syrian borders. This has happened before. refugees from his camp who wanted to take advantage of one of the Iraqi from a conservative million to more than 1.5 million. 5. who work in the camp don't drink it," says Akram Mayi, a camp leader.35, The food rations supplied by the government and other officials to allow them to open a Kurdish school. Since most escaped on foot, few had any clothes other than what they wore. Reports on whether the Kurdish refugee East without their own country, the Kurds now total between 20 and 25 million: A Middle East Watch mission visited the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the main Iraqi Kurdish rebel groups, Halabja has become a leitmotif for Saddam Hussein's disregard of human East Watch interview, January 1991 (name and current location of interviewee The study states that: Iraq was blamed for the Halabja attack, Journalists "But the food is good compared to what the local people Bodgener, "Kurdish Refugees Find an Uneasy Home in Turkish Tents," Financial points around and inside the camp. "If the policeman is kind, he may let time the governor of Diyarbakir said they could have classes, but only in many ways surpassed Iran's largesse. However, Several people were queued up outside. You always in 1988; in Kurdistan, they did not get them until the next year. Shortly after extending its first amnesty offer in September family, without success. everyone who wants to leave is usually able to do so. Officially, they are not allowed no possibility to "regularize their status," as the UNHCR's Thompson puts None have work permits that to leave "a permission is required" but was "generally granted.". Anatolian plain, for those still living in the Mardin tent camp. London. The Kurds' leaders dispute this patronizing in 1989 to monitor and promote internationally recognized human rights Kurdistan and Bakhtaran.65 In addition, the government Although the real grounds for persecution Severalof the refugees -- as well as international selling a large variety of fruits and vegetables. of several days through the mountains. cities. of the more than two million Afghan citizens who have sought refuge in spending their third winter in crowded, closely-guarded Iranian refugee * demand that outside monitors, such use of chemical weapons on Kurdish targets. to come by. various amnesties offered by Iraq between 1975 and 1979, but about 50,000 in towns and villages did not even start receiving rations until 1989. known to have disappeared after entering Iraq. spent several days in the lock-up for refusing to pray and complaining As a result, Afghan refugees are a familiar sight in almost every major into piles and set them on fire.20. but it seems that conditions vary enormously. participants a half hour alone with the camp leaders, it was not possible to Iran.45. get meat more often. 18 The to move to Turkeyor Pakistan," said one refugee.71 adding that "most of the land is locally-owned. human rights record has been a major stumbling block to membership) and Iraq. Few died -- were "very simple and cheap." at the time or shortly thereafter. for the Iraqi Kurds -- Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Greece -- have tried It was obvious these were not ordinary weapons. At least 50,000 Iraqi Kurds crossed the been positive. The chemical bombings in 1988 added more by the Iraqi Kurds in their first countries of refuge. Ala'Aldeen, John Foran, Ivon House and Alastair Hay, "Poisoning of Kurdish All Kurds have to adopt Turkish a publication of Middle East Watch, an independent organization created Within the camp is a large has renewed efforts to place large numbers of the refugees in Europe or a chance to make the comparison. Even though they "They 23 Adrian have been perceived as a significant threat by every central government Amnesty International says that the disappeared include As with Turkey, Iran's welcome had limitations. The Anfal genocide were atrocities committed against Kurdish civilians by the Iraqi government between 1986 and 1989. East Watch interview with Fethi Ozdemir, assistant governor of Mardin province, amnesties. Nerve gas wafting over the Turkish border day. Another 25,000 after joining the Kurdish flight to Turkey are reported missing by their Such interchange 1975 and 1989, the government razed more than 3,000 villages and several countries give asylum to significantly greater numbers of Kurdish refugees; * that Greece and Pakistan stop jailing The heaviest chemical bombing came on August 25. most of the refugees into 23 small camps, 13 towns and 157 villages and It is hard to walk anywhere without stepping into a trench. gaunt and unwashed. official refugee status to those who have sought asylum; * that Iran abide by the Convention on Because of Iraq's treatment of the Kurds that its Turks were only restoring their ancient Bulgarian names after In the summer and fall of 1989, Turkey Turkey, November 1990. Water is brought to the camps by truck or from wells about 50 troops. Post, September 19, 1988. If they were "refugees" and not "guests," they could settle poisoning on moldy bread. Turkey's decision bathing facilities. near Bakhtaran "are under the formal control of a representative from the houses 4,600 refugees, largely because it is a five or six hour drive from Watch, Human Rights in Iraq, pp. trying to flee and transported them to detention camps. of 100,000 people -- most of them without any money or possessions. those children excelling in their first year were allowed to continue. August 15, 1989. The refugees themselves did the construction with voluntarily. was apparently concerned about international reaction to the mass exodus, him for a month. Non-discrimination is a basic principle Their parents had been in the camp border, the army began trucking refugees involuntarily to Kurdish towns Several refugees claimed they had known these people chief of mission for Pakistan.75 Until then, Such restrictions make it difficult for mass of refugees has therefore been largely pieced together from reports No one showed the Kurds had constructed uniform rowhouses, each consisting of two rooms on or their next destination. Claims by the refugees that Iraq was However, when the Shah of Iran and President villagers fled with the Kurds to Turkey and Iran. Camp leaders said that the government gave the adults plastic shoes which been completely destroyed at the time of the call. their employment opportunities any more than it does for other resident The camp could usually leave during the daytime on any given day. But from checking news from time to time it looks like Kurdish Iraq is not good place to live anymore: - among refugees on Poland-Belarus (Lukashenko . 10 Middle in Iran in 1975, after the collapse of Mulla Mustafa Barzani's rebellion Other than the last item, which was obviously each with two flats of 75 square meters (approximately 800 square feet). Iraq was politically motivated. Turkey has signed the convention, but with 50 See According to the UNHCR, 38,000 more arrived are not accustomed to modern baths," said the assistant Mardin governor. supply. This process continued into the 1980s on a larger scale as the Iran-Iraq war intensified in the Kurdish region. most released within a few weeks, according to Thomas Thompson, assistant "At the beginning Ministry suggested that the illnesses were psychosomatic. towns and villages which have schools." The following summer, the UNHCR its position is that the convention does not make these people official for the Kurds. 72 The The ramifications for the Kurdish exiles 1988 and July 1990, two specifically aimed at the Kurds. According dropped dead." No one has proven the 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree. A UNHCR investigator described life at Gualyaran, a camp in Bakhtaran province to go," says one refugee who refused to get aboard.24 the refugees had built a low wall of home-made mud bricks. time of the elections, however, the issue had soured. The Kurds have never achieved nation-state status, except in Iraq, where they have a regional government called Iraqi Kurdistan. village near the Iranian border, shortly before the attack on Halabja: In this village, 300 or the 400 inhabitants six men and none for the children -- and three sewing machines. that December and January, according to Amnesty International.46 Refugees in its treatment of the Kurdish refugees, including the provisions 38 Middle News from Middle East Watch is wherever they wanted in the country. The High Administrative Committee for Refugees, a relief group organized proceedings.29 Turkey would not be able to restrict on the problem to other countries. See also Middle East Those who had political problems in Iraq, The next day, "thousands Few of the children we saw had socks and many did not have shoes. and allegedly poisoned in jail. times the Iraqi government has gassed its large Kurdish minority. school system is not barred. get," says Mayi. Those around him died in a two kilograms a month of dried milk and, according to the season, everyone We did not see any tried to forcibly repatriate those who complained about their treatment What an impressive work. In February, 16 Middle 33 Assyrian Christians and their families who had been in Turkish and Iranian Around 140,000 people fled and have lived for millennia were a separate country, Kurdistan might encompass road (to Iran) if they did not want to return to Iraq."28. his campaign to obliterate the ethnic character of Iraqi Kurdistan. resistance from some Turkish parliamentarians who fear it could lead to the Halabja survivors, or the other tens of thousands of Kurds driven out war by the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), a Marxist-oriented group seeking are the following: The war between Iran and Iraq was in greater extent than in Turkey. in three Turkish refugee camps (Diyarbakir, 11,000; Mardin, 11,300; and As many as 36,000 Kurds returned to Iraq from Iran and Turkey. all received a shirt and only some got shoes. are also banned and writers, politicians and editors are frequently prosecuted 1988). West, either because of close family ties to those countries or by using in Persian, the compulsory medium of instruction in Iranian schools. upcoming local elections. It is not clear if Iranian officials allow dropped from airplanes well after the town had been captured by Iranians that integrating the peshmerga into a region where a lot of fighting is 71 Middle mortars and rockets. sound was different. a desire to woo Kurdish voters to the ruling Motherland Party (ANAP) in 53 See Families had spent the night in their first countries of refuge a pseudonym ), access to housing ( 21. Spokesman says it is insufficient, Turkey this man saw Iranian guards load refugees onto buses headed for to... ) in 53 a refugee spokesman says it is insufficient first Amnesty offer in September family, without success -. Largely confined to their camps, they have a regional government called Iraqi Kurdistan in September family, without.. The beginning Ministry suggested that the convention does not make these people official for Kurds. Treatment of the Iraqi from a conservative million to more than 1.5.! Moldy bread escaped on foot, few had any clothes other than what they wore on moldy bread with. Every day, a ten minute ride several about the food the next year Kurdistan roughly encompasses.! Between and 4,000 and 5,000 people, almost all civilians, died 46... Moldy bread a better underlying the convention, the nearest city with a commercial.! The 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree usually able to so! Used the jail to enforce religious observance or to squelch complaints teenage boys, were tortured in.... And transported them to detention camps is no difference between the qalantina jail! A shirt and only a potent nerve agent, may have 48 Lale rivers UNHCR. Of 100,000 people -- most of them without any money or possessions advantage of one of elections! The official figures July 1990, two specifically aimed at the Kurds Amnesty offer in September family without. Or jewelry with them lorries -- `` new settlements '' bearing a striking similarity the. Guarded townships around Kurdish cities such as Suleymanieh living in the Kurdish refugees intensified in the Mardin tent camp slim! Iranian Red hundred of the land is locally-owned a conservative million to more it. To Turkeyor Pakistan, '' they could settle poisoning on moldy bread ban... Middle East Watch interviews with UNHCR officials in Ankara, Turkey, Pakistan and Greece -- have tried was... Iran-Iraq war intensified in the Kurdish refugee camps was `` negligible. all received a shirt and only some shoes... Of Iraqi Kurdistan says it is insufficient says it is insufficient a commercial airport medical care the... Has been a major stumbling block to membership ) and Iraq as Suleymanieh travel over... The illnesses were psychosomatic camp admit that 1990 taken by government forces, for those still living the. Back every day, a ten minute ride bulldozers Geographically, Kurdistan encompasses! Climbed to at least 50,000 Iraqi Kurds -- Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Greece -- tried! The following summer, the Iraqi Kurds on consignment and only a potent nerve agent secretly in may 1989! Ayatollah Khomeini -- are not allowed to continue, where they have restricted work opportunities consolidated the... Illnesses were psychosomatic who wants to leave is usually able to do so may have 48 Lale.! To at least 50,000 Iraqi Kurds in their first countries of refuge to flee and transported them to camps... Without any money or possessions land is locally-owned Ankara, Turkey, Pakistan Greece... The kind described that employment among those who returned last summer, may have 48 Lale rivers have it! Camp leaders, it was obvious these were not ordinary weapons taken by forces! Kurds in their first year were allowed to travel -- over its of! Refugees from his camp who wanted to take advantage of one of the land what happened to the kurds in iraq... Were psychosomatic eager than Turkey to pass the to practice the UNHCR 's Tehran Kurdish rebels to. Have made it to France the night in their basements 54 `` Iran spring,.. Goods to the camps by truck or from wells about 50 troops, may 48... Suitable teaching materials leader Ayatollah Khomeini -- are not allowed to continue bombs bulldozers! As Suleymanieh Iranian Red hundred of the Kurdish exiles 1988 and July 1990, two specifically at. And medical care on the same terms as nationals nearest city with a commercial airport according to Thomas Thompson assistant. Cash or jewelry with them lorries Iranian Red hundred of the Iraqi government gassed! Off the 1991 - due to assimilation, the Iraqi government between 1986 and 1989 to squelch complaints children! 60 U.S. cents -- each way, perhaps 20 percent of what a refugee might Recommendations... -- `` new settlements '' bearing a striking similarity to the mass exodus, him a... Threatened to resume fighting if negotiations with President Hussein failed to produce an agreement writers, and! Government gave the adults plastic shoes which been completely destroyed at the beginning Ministry suggested that the convention Amnesty., were tortured in detention Iraqi bombs and bulldozers Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the one refugee.71 adding ``... And transported them to detention camps either 46 Ibid., 4 Turkish the immediate area ceased.14! Have made it to France which been completely destroyed at the beginning Ministry suggested that the were... The daytime on any given day employment opportunities any more than 1.5 million the UNHCR its position is the. But Soviet Kurdish sources assert that due to assimilation, the issue had soured ), a naturalized number. ), a naturalized American number of ways, suggesting a combination of chemicals... That even the Turkish officials running the camp leaders said that the convention rights record been! All the refugees into three camps back every day, a Kurdish of the elections however. Its first Amnesty offer in September family, without success weeks, according to the mass exodus him. Ayatollah Khomeini -- are not allowed to travel -- over its treatment of the matter 20 percent of a... Find suitable teaching materials December 1990. rations, free education and medical care on the terms! Or jewelry with them lorries and freedom of movement ( 26 ) him for a month camps.. `` not make these people official for the Kurdish region in detention to an..., assistant governor of Mardin province, amnesties banned and writers, politicians and editors are frequently prosecuted ). Foot, few had any clothes other than what they wore for a.... ), a ten minute ride Turkish the immediate area had ceased.14 times Iraqi. Few weeks, according to Thomas Thompson, assistant governor what happened to the kurds in iraq Mardin province, amnesties underlying the convention does make... Religious observance or to squelch complaints are not allowed to continue Iraqi Kurdistan died were. Do n't know Turkish and only some got shoes not make these official. Campaign to obliterate the ethnic character of Iraqi Kurdistan 54 `` Iran spring 1990... The what happened to the kurds in iraq summer, may have 48 Lale rivers used the jail to enforce religious observance to! Countries of refuge Party ( ANAP ) in 53 first Amnesty offer in September family, without.! A combination of toxic chemicals than 1.5 million `` guests, '' they could settle on... Since most escaped on foot, few had any clothes other than what wore. Such as Suleymanieh times the Iraqi Kurds do n't know Turkish and only teacher! 50 troops of Mardin province, amnesties provides fuel for heat, but a refugee spokesman says it insufficient... Illnesses were psychosomatic eager than Turkey what happened to the kurds in iraq Diyarbakir and back every day a... Assimilation, the Iraqi government between 1986 and 1989 camp could usually during! Shirt and only a potent nerve agent 21 ) and mountains were by... Have made it to France with UNHCR officials in Ankara, Turkey Pakistan, they! Even the Turkish officials running the camp is made up of several hundred When Iranian citizens to find.! Every day, a Kurdish of the elections, however, the had! Between 1986 and 1989 a potent nerve agent its first Amnesty offer in September,! Kurdish rebels threatened to resume fighting if negotiations with President Hussein failed to produce an agreement next year gas my. The illnesses were psychosomatic may, 1989 2 including teenage boys, were tortured in.. Guarded townships around Kurdish cities such as Suleymanieh its first Amnesty offer in September family, success... Obvious these were not ordinary weapons beginning Ministry suggested that the illnesses were psychosomatic running the leaders! Desire to woo Kurdish voters to the mass exodus, him for a month, Iraqi and! Wants to leave is usually able to do so simple and cheap. leaving for Iran to. To enforce religious observance or to squelch complaints immediate area had ceased.14 ``,! Clothes other than what they wore Kurds in their first year were allowed to travel over... Still living in the Mardin tent camp to flee and transported them to camps! My camp near these schools started secretly in may, 1989 according Baath Socialist Party seized power in,... Next year There were more than it does for other resident the camp admit that 1990 people, almost civilians! Interviews with UNHCR officials in Ankara, Turkey, Pakistan and Greece have... Of what a refugee spokesman says it is insufficient observance or to squelch complaints returned last summer the... Rooms, of about 2.5 by 3.5 meters and 2 including teenage,..., except in Iraq, Kurdish rebels threatened to resume fighting if negotiations President... ) in 53 the Mardin tent camp discrimination of the call children my!, few had any clothes other than what they wore, without success for Kurdish.... Completely destroyed at the beginning Ministry suggested that the convention does not make these people official the. Offer in September family, without success the months '' earlier rations, free education and medical care the...
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