10/12/2022

Refugees from Iran in Iraqi Kurdistan

Victims of Iranian bomb attacks need help

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has appealed to the German Federal Government to help Kurdish refugees from Iran who are currently stuck in Iraqi Kurdistan. Following attacks be the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, they are in desperate need of humanitarian aid. “Due to recent shelling and bombing, hundreds of people have lost their homes – especially women, children, and elderly men. For years, many of them have been trying to find shelter in neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan,” explained Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East Consultant of the STP, in Göttingen om Wednesday. “Now, they fear to enter buildings that have not yet been destroyed in attacks by Iran.”

For weeks, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been bombing houses, schools, and other buildings used by refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan. Dozens of people have been killed – including women and children. According to its own information, Iran has used more than 73 ballistic rockets and several Kamikaze drones against alleged “terrorists”. According to Sido, the bodies of the victims are only buried at night – for fear of further attacks. “The children are afraid of going to school, and the families are trying to stay away from their houses,” Sido added. “For fear of the hit squads, injured people are often reluctant to seek treatment in the local hospitals.” Both the Iranian and the Turkish secret service are very active in the region. It is not uncommon that Kurdish people are murdered by strangers in their homes or on the streets.

The German Federal Government should do everything in its power to help the victims of the Mullah regime. “Iraq has not had a functioning government for months. The country is unable to protect its borders or to provide humanitarian aid to refugees from the neighboring countries,” Sido emphasized. “Thus, the Federal Government should do more than just pay lip service. If it is really opposed to the way Iran treats refugees in the country, it must help the victims.” Most of the Kurdish refugees from Iran are now holding out near the city of Koya, close to the main road between Arbil and Sulaimaniyya.