International Federation of Iraqi Refugees meeting to express solidarity with the civilized people of Shingal and Kobani

International Federation of Iraqi Refugees meeting to express solidarity with the civilized people of Shingal and Kobani

Hosted by John McDonnell MP.

Date: Tuesday, 28.10.2014

Time:18:30-20:30

 Committee room no10, House of Parliament, Westminster, London

Chair:         Karen Johnson

Speakers: Dashty Jamal Secretary of International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, John McDonnell Labour Party MP, Jean Lambert MEP, Dr Alan Semo PYD representative in UK , Beth Redmond  From AWL, Gona Saeed from Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation in Britain, Mauyed Ahmed  Secretary of the central committee of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq

The Chair opened the meeting by calling for a minutes silence for all the victims of ISIS.

The Chair then laid out the following topics that would be covered by the speakers:

• The ISIS threat against the future of Iraq, Kurdistan and the Middle East.

• Genocide against the people of Shingal both Yazidis and Christian.

• The situation of displaced people and women kidnapped by ISIS forces.

• The brave Resistance of the citizens of Kobani and finding a way out of this blazing hell.

The Chair introduced Dashty Jamal to open the meeting and lay out the background to the current situation in Kobani and the wider area.

The Chair then introduced the other speakers.

John McDonnell spoke about the history of Iraqi Kurdistan and other campaigns he had been involved with and promoting human rights in the region.

At the meeting there was an announcement regarding the launch of a campaign by the Kurdish Women’s Organization to protect and support Yazedi and other minority women and children.

Following the speeches The Chair introduced two short films made by International Federation of Iraqi Refugees activists in Iraq regarding the plight of displaced people.

The Meeting discussed and passed unanimously the following resolution:

1-Call on the UK and International community to support the people’s resistance in Kobani.

2- Immediately help all who have been displaced regardless of their religion or race. Take every measure to rescue and protect the lives of the women and children from Yazadi, Christian and all minority communities.     

3- Demand that the British and European countries grant asylum to Yazidis, Christians and every one forced to flee from ISIS.

4- Any country who have supported ISIS for example Turkey must not only be condemned; but also be interrogated

5- Any activities and demonstrations by IS supporters must be opposed by trade unions, community groups and political organizations. What they do does not constitute freedom of political thought; they advocate hatred and killing.  Tolerating these groups may give justification to other racist groups to flourish and spread hostility towards people on the basis of religious beliefs

6-   The ruling parties across Iraq propagate racist and ethnocentric sentiments among the people, causing tension between Arabs and Kurds, as well as Sunni and Shia. This is catastrophic and has brought about high levels of ethno-sectarian hatred in Iraq and Kurdistan.  Pressure should be exerted on the political parties to stop this.

International Federation of Iraqi Refugees-IFIR

4-11-2015