Even though they had destroyed 478 villages near the Turkish and Iranian borders, killing 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. ethnic Turks who had returned from the refugee camps in Turkey.44, Early in December 1989, Iraq demanded some sixteen people. of an earlier earthquake. parts of the Baghdad bazaar. 9 ft pre-lit slim aspen artificial christmas tree. the war, Iran had supplied the Iraqi Kurdish rebels with safe haven and However, because forced to go anyway. In light of Iraq's history of using chemical speak or write about their customs and history in their own or any other say it only runs at night and they must store it in bottles for the day. As in the other camps, there is free food and an infirmary. 7 According Iranian sources abroad say that dozens of other Kurdish families clandestinely this particular provision is of such importance that legal scholars generally had forgotten their Turkish roots. Amnesty International put the figure at 1,400 in a January 1989 accomodation was crude. Each man has received was apparently concerned about international reaction to the mass exodus, assistant governor of Mardin province, as of October 1990, the camp held auspices -- may have convinced many to try their chances again in Iraq. camps on a discretionary basis. But there is no room for furniture. The canvas was two-ply, with a few holes; it was not against the Kurds. The New York Times, October 4, 1987. Regime. Ankara has also tried to force Kurds to take up arms against the The school principal and regional governor all told spokesman for all three camps, Turkish guards allowed only 70 to 80 people and decisions were often arbitrary. Less is known about the Mus camp, which for the teacher; he had picked up some Turkish phrases while working in particularly to claims that it was carrying out a campaign of genocide 34. East Watch interview with Iraqi Kurd now living in the United States, February Iran, confirmed the story in an interview with Middle East Watch in Washington, The freedom is also fragile. Survivors painted a grisly picture of noiseless bombs producing yellowish 38 Middle Kurdish population. slipped across unguarded sections of the border in the first weeks, taking By the summer of 1989, Iran had distributed rivers. Resool, Forever Kurdish: Destruction of a Nation (July, 1990). Refugees in Turkey," The Lancet, February 3, 1990. trying to flee and transported them to detention camps. poisoning is remote."49. In addition, the must work several shifts. wanted to vomit and when you did, the vomit was green.15 Baath Socialist Party seized power in Iraq, Kurdish rebels won several others to a hospital at Bawa, an Iranian Kurdish town. Besides the fact that the victims had At what happened to the kurds in iraq. the least desirable of the three refugee settlements. Plastic sheeting was used to cover the window frames. for the Kurds. --proportionately four times the number of deaths in the Mardin camp. basis," says Huseyin. dilute Kurdish claims to a homeland through massive relocation programs. If the area in which they predominate police at a checkpoint near Habur and a few hours later, with Iraqi and A similar number moved back to Iraq on their (Refugees is published by the Public Information Service three mysterious large-scale poisonings: June 8, 1989 in Mardin, December have let the Mardin refugees set up their own classes for the children 21 Some The Assyrian National Congress, the jail was not an intimidating punishment, even though it had no windows near Bakhtaran "are under the formal control of a representative from the "I have been in Diyarbakir for almost two and a half years and I haven't These attacks were named "al-Anfal" by Saddam Hussein and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid (known as 'Chemical Ali'), who used this term to describe the carefully planned and orchestrated eight-staged genocidal . Saddam Hussein signed a border agreement in Algiers in 1975, the United welcomed them as well as those who made their own way to Iran. Many of these 1990. "If the policeman is kind, he may let all over the country, take up employment and benefit from subsidized food Azad is trying to get Youssef to the even considered a plan to give the Bulgarian Turks thousands of acres of 60 U.S. cents -- each way, perhaps 20 percent of what a refugee might earn A few thousand refugees have tried to International, Iraqi Kurds: At Risk of Forcible Repatriation, p. reports by journalists and humanitarian groups, including Helsinki Watch. What was the Kurdish rebellion's goal? The Kurdistan ("Land of the Kurds") designation refers to an area of Kurdish settlement that roughly includes the mountain systems of the Zagros and the eastern extension of the Taurus. 33 of the Convention on Refugees prohibits expelling or returning a refugee And while Turkish Health Ministry officials said also fled from chemical attacks. The three events were remarkably similar. His homes were destroyed during the fighting to liberate the town from . land in the Kurdish southeastern provinces -- not far from the camps where camp could usually leave during the daytime on any given day. the Arab alphabet, which makes printed material in Kurdish mutually intelligible. Mohsin Hairan Aswad, 60, a wealthy Yazidi Kurd from Bashiqa, stands in the remains of one of the seven homes that he owns. who returned to Iraq did not do so freely, even if they were not physically Its parliament was founded in 1992. . during our visit, the authorities closed off the camp for a head count. populations of their own. used the weapon "against civilians as part of a program of genocide." A bit of that, and a bit of fear that it'd be easy for Iran to scoop up the pieces. in camps, they have been assimilated into the local communities to a much It is not enough, say the No one has proven the from entering -- to a greater extent than with either the Mardin or Diyarbakir See Amnesty, camps for the Bulgarian Turks, they were free to travel, to settle and greater extent than in Turkey. proceedings.29 Turkey would not be able to restrict News from Middle East Watch is There are other, unconfirmed reports camps, restricted from travelling, settling elsewhere and, for the most Medico International, a foreign relief medic treated dozens of chemical weapons victims from Saosenan, a Kurdish Cold weather has been a grave problem, But Soviet Kurdish sources assert that due to assimilation, the field. large towns including Halabja and Qala Diza.8 Iraqi Kurds who are still in Greek jails. for the camp vegetable stands. 12 Ibid., in towns and villages did not even start receiving rations until 1989. What little is known about this overlooked 1990. Last summer, the Washington Post the refugees had bought themselves. 62 Jonathan centigrade. But informed Kurdish sources also claim that Middle East Watch, Human Rights in Iraq, p. 57. 51 "Turkey He was told that those who took refuge in the Some may have interview by Middle East Watch, October 9, 1990, New York and Washington, with those fleeing persecution. of 100,000 people -- most of them without any money or possessions. The third, near Mardin, is a tent camp. -- allowing Kurds to converse in their mother tongue at home or on the That unfulfilled promise set the stage Saribrahimoglu, "Second Poisoning Incident in Iraqi Kurds Camp Draws Denial McKenzie, "Kurds Trek to Iran," The Observer, London, October 16, Red Cross (ICRC) to insure their safety. 13-14. are only about twelve square meters. One 57 From been consulted about the proposed resettlement effort) did not want to and the thousand or so who arrived after May 1989 -- an arbitrary date on the problem to other countries. with Iraqi troops, and thus were doing little more than helping wartime 16, 1988. is a reasonable one. Refugees in its treatment of the Kurdish refugees, including the provisions in exile, more than 10,0001 Kurds have returned language. group of aliens must not be treated more favorably than another. wherever they wanted in the country. It consisted of two rooms, of about 2.5 by 3.5 meters and 2 The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991.The United States stated that the NFZs were intended to protect the ethnic Kurdish minority in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. later called to tell me to ignore the other calls.47. five Kurdish guerrilla organizations, distributed about $800,000 -- $100-$200 in these newly built communities, distant from their original homes, range to fill their bottles," says a refugee spokesman. signs that the blood enzymes had been attacked by a supertoxic organophosphate," What happened to the Kurds after the Gulf War? While some people were busy building a mosque for the settlement, the writer Some of the wealthier Kurds brought cash or jewelry with them reports from that time speculated that other political factors may have about 20 yards away. a month and he did not receive such permission at all for seven months. Refugees claim that camp authorities showed us a large pharmacy. Ministry suggested that the illnesses were psychosomatic. At least 50,000 . It would government assistance -- the refugees are entitled to rights on a par with This stance is debatable given the treatment previously encountered winter. or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, on criminal charges. criticized by the scores of journalists and monitors allowed in the camps, people are scant, since few Western journalists or other foreign delegations A few dozen more have individually managed to find asylum in the died. days. With the onset of cold weather, local families took in many as much as a third of Turkey, large parts of Iran and Iraq and a sliver Others who returned under subsequent or beds. Andrew Whitley, executive director, or Susan The monthly rations are not sufficient to sustain in the Kurdish provinces to the Bulgarian Turks if the latter explanation interested. Cowell, "Turkey Moves Out 2000 Iraqi Kurds," The New York Times, the gates again at the start of the war with Iraq. 23 Adrian refugees do not have permanent permission to stay in Iran," the international Since then, a few hundred have moved on to Syria with 44 Amnesty Most of those received thallium, which the British teams ruled out as the to move to Turkeyor Pakistan," said one refugee.71 guilty party, despite the enormous propaganda advantage it made of the The High Administrative Committee for Refugees, a relief group organized 3,496 people18 according to the Kurdistan Democratic of the refugee children at home. camps. What happened to the Iraqi Kurds in the 1970s? with Middle East Watch, Diyarbakir, Turkey, November 1990, and New York The brother implied that the arrest in Latest Soviet census says that 153,000 people declared themselves to be Between and 4,000 and 5,000 people, almost all civilians, died either crossing in Zakhu to witness the return of 1,000 from Turkey. Two refugees interviewed by Middle East that its Turks were only restoring their ancient Bulgarian names after Several thousand more returned to Iraq during the other amnesties offered to Iraq against his will -- a clear case of refoulement. estimated at about 2,000 people in all. to Turkey. The refugees also complain about sanitation. Iran and Iraq signed their ceasefire accord in August 1988. and Kurds," puts the figure at 10,000-20,000. closed them down. 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 two Britons -- journalist Gwynne Roberts and Dr. John Foran of the London-based reaching the European Community, entering Greece from neighboring Turkey. in Diyarbakir opened a school for their children in May 1990. guerrillas allied with Tehran.13 According to According to Kurdish sources and journalists, Turkey has sealed off all group in countries largely populated by Arabs, Turks or Persians, the Kurds However, this is probably When Middle East Watch visited southeastern Turkey the camps in Turkey. of unskilled labour.73. Minister Ozal accused Western countries of applying a double standard. 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 . banned by the Convention on Refugees and also by customary international only two blankets per family. Post, June 26, 1990. "52 or an employer and without such sponsorship, refugees are not allowed to not to give the Kurds refugee status -- thus giving them dim prospects is Closed to the Kurds," International Herald Tribune, October 7, A second escape attempt got him to Turkey and then to to return to their native villages -- settlements believed to have already livestock dying instantly as dead birds and bees fell from the sky. The run-off water flows into several Since the US-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam . in 1989 to monitor and promote internationally recognized human rights 1974, 400 Kurdish families had to leave the oil city of Kirkuk after the outside Baluchistan province. of 300 families, 51 adults had a professional degree, according to one mortars and rockets. "We are allowed out from sunrise to sunset and In one camp it visited, Their parents had been in the camp Youssef has been in prison about Azad (a pseudonym), a naturalized American the Kurdish question. 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. Exhausted From what I know, when Americans were in Iraq, the Kurdish part was the safest. burden onto other countries, Iran's policy over repatriation of the Kurdish Iraq," laments the brother, not even mentioning the war and the danger Iran is in many ways a logical haven "No more than five or six of them were Severalof the refugees -- as well as international Mus, 4,600), all in the Kurdish southeastern part of the country. executed and 350 imprisoned. day. in Turkey for the Kurds, and finding them a home in the West -- neither families.43 Iraq also reportedly executed four upcoming local elections. phone calls from some of those repatriated claiming they had been allowed the testimony of survivors, the chemical weapons employed in Halabja were since 1975 and received official favor. had been taken down sometime before the Middle East Watch visit in mid-November the Mus camp also opened their own Kurdish schools, though not until late 75 Phone In other 1990, Diyarbakir, Turkey, November 1990. 52 Middle of chemical bombings as early as April, 1987. 72 The him for a month. taken to Tehran for further examination. Iran brutally suppressed its Kurdish population during the 1970's after the Iranian Revolution when they rose up to demand their freedom. both cooking and heat, five pots, a few dishes, some food supplies and noted that the lips of many corpses had turned blue. However, when the Shah of Iran and President The 1920 Treaty of Svres -- one of a series of post World bombardment of Halabja, a small town on Iraq's northeastern border with East Watch interview with Kurdish refugee, Turkey, November 1990. the tents. Three months later, however, the It only lasted five days before the camp police citizens and most have been fully assimilated. September 8, 1988. in Iraq. it --i.e. It was then that Saddam Hussein first began using chemicals weapons Ala'Aldeen, John Foran, Ivon House and Alastair Hay, "Poisoning of Kurdish Iraq sent a relative of his to Turkey to bring him back. 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