Come to the Aid of  Iranian Kurdish Refugees in Turkey!

More than 1300 Iranian Kurdish refugees are living in precarious situation in Turkey. These refugees, while possessing refugee cards from UN office in Turkey, do not benefit from any rights as refugees.

For undeclared reasons, the UNHCR avoids clarifying the situation of these refugees. These people, known as “Northern Iraquis” in UNHCR offices in Turkey, have been staying in Turkey for more than two years. Prior to this, they have been staying as refugees in Iraqui Kurdistan. Due to regional developments and ensueing heightened dangers to their lives, they were once more forced to flee, this time to Turkey. After two years of awaiting a decision in Van (Turkish border city), instead of clarifying their situation, the UNHCR by resorting to Turkish Police scattered these families in different cities to minimize their ability to protest.

Now these refugees live under precarious conditions in terms of health-care and nutrition.

They do not have the right to employement, thus no source of income.

Their children do not have access to education due to poverty.

There are youth among them who know no life but that in refugee camps.

The Turkish government demands a fee for residence permit too high for most these refugees and those unable to pay, risk being deported.

The UNHCR in Turkey does not provide any clear reason for avoiding to send them to refugee-accepting countries, has withheld all the basic assistance it usually allocates to refugees and tries to ignore the inhuman conditions imposed on them.

We call on all the human rights and progressive organizations to join in with the protest of these refugees and through letter or fax to UNHCR office in Geneva demand that the inhuman condition of these refugees be ended and that they be sent to host countries where they can live a humane life.

8 march women’s organization (Iranian-Afghanistani)

21 September 2004