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Internally Displaced Persons
Someone who has fled their home, often due to fear of persecution from violence, but remained within the borders of their country, is known in the humanitarian field as an internally displaced person, or IDP. Conditions for IDPs fleeing to the north vary. There are some Kurdish IDPs mixed among the Arab families. Some have lost everything. Some have money to rent houses; others live in tents and public places. The latter is a smaller category of people. Even the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) discourages the creation of camps in Iraq. However, a few still exist.
The following travel blog about one of the IDP camps was distributed on Leadership Council for Human Rights’ Weekly News Digest on July 27, 2007.
Assistance needed for internally displaced persons in Iraqi Kurdistan
As I step out of a police truck with two policemen sitting up front and three sitting on a bench in the bed of the truck, I motion with my camera to a little girl standing by herself, seeking permission to take her photograph. She very shyly indicates her approval by barely nodding her head. By the time I have snapped the picture, I am suddenly swarmed by a group of Arab children, each wanting me to take their picture as well, and, of course, anxious to see it once I have.
By the children's smiling faces and beaming, bright eyes, you would never guess that they live with their families in tents with walls composed of blankets, sheets, tarps and anything else large enough to serve the purpose. Sanitation is non-existent on this piece of garbage-covered land, nestled in between the highway and apartment buildings. Two water tanks have been provided by the Governorate of Sulaimaniya, with water trucked in frequently by Kurdistan Health Foundation and International Committee of the Red Cross.
Approximately 80 internally displaced Arab families, roughly 420 persons, inhabit Qawala camp, on the southern outskirts of Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan. The camp is considered illegal by the Governor's office. The land is private property. The first families set up their tents a year and a half ago to escape the sectarian violence in their hometowns, throughout Baghdad and Diyala province. Some have since returned in exchange for a small monetary compensation offered by the Governor's office. Many more, however, fear for their lives and wish not to return, at least not now. "We have to accept the reality that these families are here" and do something to assist them, said Hewa Jaff of the Governorate of Sulaimaniya's Public and Foreign Relations Office.
Though the Governorate has received some assistance from international organizations, such as the International Committee for the Red Crescent (ICRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), much more is needed. Qawala is not the only internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in the area. Others exist in the two other governorates of the Kurdistan Regional Government as well.
Jaff, who visits with the IDPs in Qawala on a regular basis, has worked to find other locations where the camp can officially be established, as the violence has no foreseeable end. The criteria for choosing locations are pretty stringent, Jaff explains. One site was ruled out for being too close to Kirkuk. Another for being too close to the Iranian border. Three sites have since been chosen. The final decision will come from the Kurdistan Regional Government's Minister of the Interior.
The problem, Jaff continues, is that the camp management proposals received by the Governor's office from international NGOs will only sustain the camp for a few months. The Governor's office cannot take on the management task, as it does not have the budget for such action.
At the UNHCR Geneva conference in April 2007, the Iraqi central government pledged to allot funds to Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries and to its own IDPs. The Governorate of Sulaimaniya has not seen any such funds, says Jaff. The same point was confirmed by Venus Shamal Karim with Kurdish Human Rights Watch.
Considering Kurdistan is presently the most stable and secure region within Iraq, continued preservation of this condition should be taken into consideration as officials continue to work toward some form of conflict resolution. In addition to existing in extremely poor conditions, IDPs, as well as refugees in neighboring countries, increasingly strain local economies. In order to maintain the present stability, the Iraqi Central Government needs to provide greater assistance for IDPs. Additionally, the international community, particularly the US and Iraq's neighbors, should take a vested interest in preventing additional instability in the northern region and potentially greater chaos throughout the country and within the region as a whole.
  
Each inhabitant of the camp carries a heart-breaking story of the violence that plagues the central and southern regions of Iraq. Mariwan is a 17-year-old from Baghdad, living in the IDP camp since September 2006. He came to the camp with the six other members of his family after his brother was kidnapped and killed by a Shia militia that learned that his family- Sunnis -were living in the neighborhood. Mariwan was the one who found his brother’s body. After the family fled, the Mehdi Army took over their house.
Though the IDPs are now much safer from the violence, their conditions depicted above are not appropriate living conditions. Snakes and scorpions inhabit the fields where these tents are located. With only water tanks and no sanitation, conditions are not suitable for living. Even with the two water tanks, there is still a shortage of water. Additionally, children sometimes play with the tanks, causing leaks. Numerous health problems exist as a result of the conditions. Women face additional health concerns, as no bathroom area exists.
A committee was elected within the group to handle internal camp affairs and representation to the Governorate, per Jaff’s request. The committee of 10 men recently added five women, per Jaff’s insistence that they “desperately need [women] involved” since they are intelligent and able to plan some aspects better than men, he said. Women still face discrimination in the camp though. One woman, whose husband had recently been arrested and sentenced by a judge, loudly and strongly accused one of the men of not allowing her to have her designated allotment of water.
In recent months four families reportedly settled in the camp. Though those numbers may not sound significant, the jump from the initial data is striking. The first group of 26 families settled on the property around December 2006.
The Governorate’s Office is working on a more long-term location for the camp. The required criteria do not make the search an easy process, according to Jaff, who explained that three locations have been considered to date. This political decision ultimately rests with the Minister of the Interior.
Meanwhile, the families must continue to survive. In order to obtain food in the region, the families must transfer their ration cards, which also serve as voter registration cards. Many families do not want to transfer their cards in hopes of returning home soon. For those who decide to transfer their cards and are otherwise able to support themselves, the transfer is facilitated by the Governorate’s Office. Those in need of additional assistance can apply with the International Committee for the Red Crescent (ICRC).
One alternative recommendation to the problem of food ration cards is a request Jaff submitted to the Central Government: a redistribution of food rations throughout provinces. For those IDPs who can verifiably now temporarily reside in Sulaimaniya, those rations should be relocated from the province where the IDP came from. Such a system inherently allows for the possibility of corruption in regards to cooking the numbers and creating mass chaos in the process.
Though ICRC and UNHCR have both provided some assistance, Jaff says it is not enough to meet the actual need. Additionally, the Governorate’s office has seen little from the Iraqi Central Government, who in April 2007 at UNHCR’s Geneva Conference, pledged assistance for its own IDPs.
Many of the IDPs, regardless of whether they live in the city or in a camp, face problems of unemployment. Some, according to Jaff, have resorted to petty theft and prostitution. The women, particularly in the camp, are in need of small sustainable financial activities, such as sewing courses.
The assistance IDPs have received has increased resentment among Kurdish victims of Anfal, according to Jaff, who feel that they themselves do not receive enough assistance. This sentiment has prevented government officials from providing as much assistance to the IDPs, as the officials’ constituents are outraged that the government cannot even help them, said Yadger, a non-profit worker in Sulaimaniya.
As with any mass migration, the local government becomes concerned about security. Each family moving to the area for the first time has to have a “guarantor” to attest to the moral character of the individual. A minority presence in the region does not pose a problem, according to the Deputy Minister of Interior, Ahmad Musa, who said that the control of the two main political parties, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Kurdistan Democratic Party, minimizes the role of Islamic terrorists. For this reason, IDPs are able to live in security in the area. As a precaution, suspicious activity is closely watched by the security office which maintains a list of all the IDP families in the city. Only a few ill-intentioned persons have made it into the region, but, Musa insists, IDPs as a whole will not be treated poorly because of a few bad individuals.
Other aspects of the new IDP population have also raised concerns. Differences in culture naturally exist between the Kurdish families already settled in Sulaimaniya and the Arab families relocating in the area. Some Kurdish women, according to Jaff, now do not feel safe in the markets, because they are so crowded.
Steps have at least been taken to acknowledge the presence and needs of the IDPs. However, many more steps are necessary to actually improve their plight. All parties involved walk a fine line with little separating them from the nearby chaos.
Iranian Kurds
Shola is a 28 year old Iranian Kurd temporarily residing at a shelter in Sulaimaniya. She fled Iran to escape her husband, who recently divorced her. Shola is 7 months pregnant and her husband did not want the baby, so he threatened to kill it, which likely would’ve killed her as well. Though, Shola explained, the hospitals are better in Iran, for her safety she will return home to stay with her family after she gives birth to her baby boy and is well enough to cross the border.
Hazhar was a member of a political opposition group in Iran but fled for his safety eight years ago. Farzana, his wife, left her homeland six and a half years ago to be with him. Since they maintain political party ties, the couple has been threatened and attacked by Iranian spies in Sulaimaniya.
At the end of July news came to Sulaimaniya of the formal execution sentences of two Iranian Kurdish journalists and civil society activists: Adnan Hassenpur and Hiwa Butimar. The family was not initially told where the men were being held, and, therefore, were denied visitation of the men. Advocacy efforts on behalf of the men have been carried out throughout the West by NGOs and governments alike. A press conference on the matter was held on 6 August 2007 at the Hotel Ashti in Sulaimaniya.
The following travel blog was distributed on Leadership Council for Human Rights’ Weekly News Digest on August 10, 2007.
Iranian journalist sentenced to death is finally allowed to see family
The following piece was written by LCHR Fellow LaChelle Amos, who is currently supporting the Leadership Council’s initiatives on the ground in Iraqi Kurdistan.
After months of obfuscation in the case of two Kurdish journalists sentenced to death for ties to foreign media, Iranian officials on Tuesday revealed their whereabouts and granted family visitation rights to one of the men, a family member of the accused said Thursday.
The mother of Adnan Hassanpur was allowed to visit her son in a Sina prison on Tuesday, the first time she had seen him since his arrest in late January, despite visitation promises made by officials months ago, Adnan’s sister, Leili Hassanpur, told a Leadership Council employee working in Iraqi Kurdistan. There is no indication that family members of the other journalist involved in the case, Abdolvahed “Hiwa” Butimar – also being held in Sina – have been allowed similar visits.
Butimar and Hassanpur were arrested this past winter and found guilty of “moharebe,” or taking up arms against the Islamic state, and espionage – the result of phone interviews with foreign media. After Hassanpur’s arrest, eight Iranian security agents reportedly raided his home, confiscating his personal computers and other items, Leili said. The two men have since been held in isolation at various times during their imprisonment, Hassanpur for 61 days and Butimar for one month, according to Leili. Execution sentences for both men were announced on July 17.
Both men are reportedly now in poor health, having carried out hunger strikes since the day their sentences were announced, Leili said.
Supporters of Butimar and Hassanpur gathered at a hotel in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Suleimaniyah on Monday to discuss the situation. Mohammed Ezady and Madih Ahmady, the organizers of a campaign to free the men, and Aso Jabar, a prominent Kurdish writer, led the press conference.
Three other Kurdish journalists, Aku Kordnasab, Eilal Qavami and Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand, were arrested during the past month, and Kaveh Javanmard was arrested in May and sentenced to two years in prison. Kaboudvand, the president of a Kurdish human rights organization, is reportedly being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison; he is apparently in poor health and being denied family visitation.
LCHR is gravely concerned about the fate of Adnan Hassanpur and Abdolvahed “Hiwa” Butimar. We call upon all human rights activists around the world to demand that Iran revoke the execution sentences of these two activists. Please demonstrate your support for these two innocent men by adding your signature to our petition.
Click here to sign the petition now!
Kirkuk Profile
Though for the most part a visitor to the Kurdistan region could hardly identify through daily activities and conversations that the region is part of a larger war-torn country, discussion revolving around Kirkuk is an exception to that. The city, primarily disputed among Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen throughout the country, is plagued with terrorist activity and violence.
Gulala lives with her family on “Shara Amot” (“Dead Street”) in Kirkuk. She says it is “more terrible living in Kirkuk than what you see on tv.” There is no feeling of security; instead, fear every time there is even a knock on the door. For their own safety, people do not go out at night, but there are days when the violence is so bad that Gulala does not even dare to go visit her mother. Two months before the interview, Gulala’s son became quite ill at night. The police would not even come to her street to escort them to the hospital. She was told to go over a few streets to meet the ambulance. On the way they were stopped by some men- potentially up to no good- asking why they were out. Fortunately for the family, American “guardians” (or soldiers) were out patrolling and the family was able to make their way over to the ambulance. Once at the hospital, the doctor was not even able to write a prescription, since there was nowhere the family could fill it.
Day by day the situation in Kirkuk worsens. Under Saddam, families had security, food, etc, Gulala remembers. Yes, some Kurds were persecuted; however, since Saddam’s fall, “we wish Saddam was back,” she said. There is no security, jobs, or petrol now.
Summary
“Life in Sulemany is good but in Kirkuk or villages or small cities it is not,” said Sheeren, a young journalist. She does not expect to see positive changes in her lifetime but believes that they should come by the next generation. As the region continues to develop, additional challenges will surely surface. Discontentment with the government; education; women’s need for economic self-sufficiency; societal constructs of marriage and its implications; violence against women; self-immolation; and increased economic, social and security strains brought about by a flood of IDPs are all very difficult challenges to face. Some hope still exists though, as is evident by Sheeren’s statement.
How will these changes come about? Collaboration at all levels of society is necessary.
Though the overwhelming majority of regional leadership has lived abroad, when changes are recommended to the leadership based on experiences abroad, the suggestions are often disregarded in favor of local practices. For an effective top-down approach, leaders need to acknowledge that seeking others’ advice and implementing changes based on successful past experiences of fellow officials, should not be a concern.
The role of civil society is immensely important. For that reason, non-profit organizations advocating on behalf of human rights and women’s rights and implementing changes through innovative grassroots projects need additional support as well.
Though this report covers a wide-range of issues, additional research is needed. By conducting numerous interviews with different individuals and organizations, some strong surface-level information was acquired. The deeper details were not as readily apparent. Additional qualitative, and in some cases quantitative, research is necessary to fit together a complete understanding.
LaChelle Amos, who spent six weeks in Iraq as a field research fellow of the Leadership Council for Human Rights, is a 2008 MA Candidate in American University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution program within the School of International Service.
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