25/6/12

Iraqi parliament votes against accepting forcibly returned Iraqi refugees

The Iraqi Parliament on Saturday voted for a motion put forward by MPs to refuse to accept Iraqi refugees forcibly deported back into the country.

The vote is a major blow to the policies of many European governments’ to deport refugees back to Iraq.

The Parliament voted to:

-          Refuse to accept forcibly returned Iraqi refugees.

-          Review the memorandum of understanding between the Swedish and Iraqi government

-          Fine all companies who returned forcibly deported refugees

The parliament also voted to ask Iraqi government to hold an international congress regarding the situation of Iraqi refugees

The motion was proposed after a campaign by the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, which has been campaigning for refugee rights and against deportations in Iraq and Kurdistan.

Dashty Jamal of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees says: “On Saturday I spoke to Sardar Abdullah MP who informed us of the motion’s success. This is a great victory for Iraqi refugees, who are the victims of war and oppression.”

 (Ends)

Contact: 07856032991

ifir@hotmail.co.uk

www.csdiraq.com

www.federationifir.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes for editors

1. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees campaigns for the rights of Iraqi refugees and against forcible deportations and detention. 

2. The UK Home Office has for the first time accepted that the Kurdistan Regional Government will not accept forcible deportations. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/31/kurdish-uk-asylum-seekers-iraq In response the British Government has sent people back to Baghdad, which has been condemned by the UNCHR, Amnesty and a number of human rights groups. The European Court of Human Rights suspended all deportations to Baghdad from European countries for a month until November 24^th   

3. The UNHCR’s statement regarding previous deportations to Baghdad can be found here:

http://www.unhcr.org/4c0e33e94fc.html

4. Iraqi refugees continue to suffer from the forcible deportation policy. Kurdish media has reported Rebwar Aziz Mohammed Amin, who was deported on the previous Baghdad deportation flight, as suffering from severe mental illness since returning while Osman Rasul committed suicide in July this year after changes to legal aid meant he lost his legal representation to fight his immigration claim (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/01/asylum-seeker-osman-rasul-death-legal-aid)

5. Previous deportation flights to Baghdad saw allegations of violence and abuse made by deportees against the security guards. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/18/iraq-deportees-asylum-seeker-claims