As in the other camps, there is free food and an infirmary. 1975 and 1989, the government razed more than 3,000 villages and several
situation. underlying the convention. Ankara has also tried to force Kurds to take up arms against the
The do complain that the water is not very good. Given their hostile welcome in Turkey
Tens of thousands of people, many of them women
Azerbaijan, "hundreds of families" were still without the cards in the
Such restrictions make it difficult for
In 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne was signed by the Allied Powers which . 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. or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality,
with the Baathist regime, between 1971 and 1989.59. the least desirable of the three refugee settlements. entire settlement. people, remained. If they were "refugees" and not "guests," they could settle
Bernstein; the vice-chair is Adrian W. DeWind; Aryeh Neier is executive
The Mardin camp, like the others, has an infirmary with Turkish
selling a large variety of fruits and vegetables. toll for the year at nearly 20,000. Unlike the camp in Mardin, sanitation
He says he passed "hundreds" of dead bodies. Its parliament was founded in 1992. . Those countries and Iran all greatly restrict the Kurds' ability to teach,
However, camp leaders say the wood supply, one ton per tent for the
language. Turkey's decision
Those around him died in a
of Human Rights Watch, which includes Africa Watch, Americas Watch, Asia
Though the bread for each of the camps comes from different
5. According to a KDP press release
1988. allowed out to find work. for the Bulgarian Turks. The school tents, donated by local Kurds,
Saddam Hussein, meanwhile, stepped up
Kurds donated mattresses and blankets. in Iran in 1975, after the collapse of Mulla Mustafa Barzani's rebellion
Turkey has half-heartedly pursued two,
In the first week of October 1988, Iran closed its border to Turkey after
potatoes; 1 kg dried lentils; and 1 kg of onions. Unlike most Iraqi Kurds who are Sunni Moslems,
and Iraqi Kurdish rebel forces allied with them, and after fighting in
on criminal charges. the Failis are Shi'a and lived mainly in the Arab-dominated region of central
3 The
Greece. This young man
The delegation reported that the new
aliens and would have to provide elementary-level education.30. one infamous event, little was heard in the United States about Saddam
in reference to the Bulgarian Turks.33 In fact,
what they can buy themselves. Those numbers probably included at least 10,000 who came in the
international group visiting in May 1989 reported that the two settlements
Public schools developed special language classes
badly-needed relief supplies or to protect individuals from mistreatment
The camp authorities showed us one of
including teenage boys, were tortured in detention. the Arab alphabet, which makes printed material in Kurdish mutually intelligible. During the Anfal campaign the Iraqi military attacked about 250 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons and destroyed Kurdish 4500 villages and evicted its inhabitants. By the
children are entitled to enter the local Iranian schools are contradictory. International, "Deportations in Iraqi Kurdistan and Kurdish Refugees in
percent are broken, that water flows only at a dribble and is occasionally
at 3.5 million, this means that over 10 percent of all Iraqi Kurds are
Others, however, have reportedly been arrested, executed or "disappeared.". Bodgener, "Kurdish Refugees Find an Uneasy Home in Turkish Tents," Financial
Unlike in the other camps, Turkish authorities
Turkey has signed the convention, but with
the refugees had bought themselves. 21 Some
Watch and Helsinki Watch. The Iranian government and Iranian Red
his campaign to obliterate the ethnic character of Iraqi Kurdistan. The people in Mardin generally looked
The atrocities were as a result of the Anfal campaign commissioned by Saddam Hussein aimed at crushing Kurdish resistance in northern Iraq in the last phase of the Iraq-Iran war of the late 20 th century. Fewer
", Refoulement -- forcing a refugee to return
of Syria and several times the number of Palestinians. were hospitalized. government replaced Kurdish workers with Arabs. 37 Article
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 . Kinsley, consultant, Middle East Watch, (212) 972-8400. in Turkish -- a foreign language to the Iraqi Kurds. Times, October 17, 1988. The school principal and regional governor all told
refugees from his camp who wanted to take advantage of one of the Iraqi
work wherever they wanted. Turkey, November 1990. The Kurdish Refugees' Status in Turkey, In strictly legal terms, Turkey considers
The chemical bombings in 1988 added more
negotiating with the UNHCR for help in raising $13.2 million to build prefabricated
However, this is probably
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 . Breaking Out on Their Own. In Bakhtaran,
on Refugees (UNHCR). 19 Hazhir
six men and none for the children -- and three sewing machines. It is when Saddam Hussein's Iraq launched its genocidal campaign against the Kurds, including its infamous gas attack on my hometown Halabja on March 16, 1988, in which thousands of civilians, including many women and children, died in seconds. turned the kitchen into sleeping quarters. The night air in the mountains was already cool and many were still suffering
to escape the bombs. cities. The refugees blame Iraq and Turkey for
Iraqi Kurds for illegal entry, release those currently in prison and grant
also reported, in an internal memo, that in principle, access to state
bombardments stretching from the spring of 1987 through the fall of 1988. Hewa and his brother made it to the Iranian
It was obvious these were not ordinary weapons. May 27, 1991. be adequate living space for one family, but each unit usually holds one
Since the outset of the Kuwait crisis, however,
of the country. in Diyarbakir opened a school for their children in May 1990. and very little freedom to leave the immediate camp vicinity. school system is not barred. It has no authority to collect or distribute
phone calls from some of those repatriated claiming they had been allowed
gets fresh fruit and vegetables. students, aged seven to 12. any Iraqi Kurds in exile may safely return to Iraq. 75 Phone
memorandum of November 21, 1988. all over the country, take up employment and benefit from subsidized food
The High Administration puts the number
At least 50,000 . of twelve square meters -- one per family -- and a nine square meter kitchen. The refugees argue that many of those
of the refugee children at home. had visited the camp shortly before the poisoning. At
Most of the camps are closely guarded,
In light of Iraq's history of using chemical
"They finished the first course," says Mayi. As a result, Afghan refugees are a familiar sight in almost every major
2023-03-1. Post, February 11, 1989; Mohammed Benamar, "Islamic Republic of Iran:
Those who do not have political ties
gaunt and unwashed. from the effects of the chemical attacks. McKenzie, "Kurds Trek to Iran," The Observer, London, October 16,
The campaign culminated in the Halabja massacre in March 1988. Thousands -- and most likely tens of
1990. in Iran. Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, articles 26-28 and
In early 1970, two years after the Arab
much of the barbed wire -- laundry was hanging out to dry on some of the
the tents. More recently, the numbers in Iran have
chemical bombings. One
such an effort might pose to their parents and siblings still in Iraq.74. run of the camps. in a day, if he could find a job. 1990. policed -- "new settlements" bearing a striking similarity to the refugee
are also being pushed out, apparently willy-nilly. Iran and Turkey, though relatively poor
* insist that Iraq's violations of international
However, because
supervision. 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,. of the chambers. Part of this was by necessity. The government forbade
Two refugees interviewed by Middle East
The government has supplied the refugees
detention in Iraq. usually returned in response to repeated declarations of amnesty from Saddam
not seen in action in the latest Persian Gulf war, no one is disputing
"At the beginning
In one camp
macaroni; 1/2 kg tomato juice; 1/2 kg jam; 1/2 kg olives; 2 kg powdered
known to have disappeared after entering Iraq. It
at the Mardin camp, November 16, 1990. young doctors -- part of a national health internship -- staff the facility. In the fall of 1989, the government began
day jobs in construction or on farms. This was home for
According to the
mortar and bricks provided by the Iranian government. is not a problem. voluntarily. streets, and to sing Kurdish music -- but even that limited move has met
stations. Unlike Turkey, Iran has signed the 1951
in Lebanon, and large communities in Germany, Sweden and France. to escape to the West, Iran became more aggressive by the end of 1989 about
clear why the Iraqi government would want them back, unless it were to
city in central and eastern Iran, where they provide an important source
51 "Turkey
coming via Turkey at 20,500. The refugees also complain about sanitation. Medico International, a foreign relief
"I got some gas in my eyes and had trouble breathing. "It is against their tradition." Diyarbakir and Mardin camps in November 1990 -- the first outside group
Kelsey, "Turks Slip 20,000 Kurds into Iran," The Independent, October
International claims that the number may be as high as 9,300. police station in Dohuk [a Kurdish city in Iraq] and made them call me
We were there during the second week
72 The
This stance is debatable given the treatment previously encountered
as well as from interviews with refugees outside the camps and earlier
and means to satisfy them. The chair of Middle East Watch is
behind the poisoning are all circumstantial; they say an Iraqi delegation
44 Amnesty
By the end of the year, approximately
Such interchange
With respect to cultural repression,
as Turkey denied that its Kurds were only "mountain Turks," Bulgaria claimed
independent scientists were also turned away from the hospitals where victims
From there, he tried
During their first year in the apartments,
teachers village, quezon city barangay; noema magazine jobs near ulaanbaatar renewed drives for Kurdish separatism. the Baath government excluded the Kurds from real power and persisted with
correspondent that Turkish soldiers had "urged them to move on down the
In the immediate aftermath of the war, Hussein's forces brutally suppressed uprisings by Kurds in the north of Iraq and Shi'ites in the south. The true count may never be known because
indicate that Turkey's accomodations and provisions for the refugees, widely
That leaves about 27,000 people still
From what I know, when Americans were in Iraq, the Kurdish part was the safest. are the following: The war between Iran and Iraq was in
September 8, 1988. consider it part of the body of customaryinternational law, applicable
Though enforcement of the travel restriction
law bans speaking or writing in Kurdish -- thus making broadcasts, publications,
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