A refugee’s suicide by setting himself on fire is a black stain on the record of the UNHCR

Today, May 18,2021, an Iranian refugee 25 year old Behzad Mahmoudi set himself on fire in front of the main UN’s office in the city of Erbil. Reporters who witnessed this demonstrated a complete lack  of conscience. This shocking human tragedy was broadcasted live through the cameras of the media outlets which belong to the Kurdistan Regional Government, but the screams and whines of this refugee did not reach the ears of those psychopaths who watched the incident.

The message behind the protest of this refugee is the same message of hundreds of refugees who have fled oppression by the Islamic Republic of Iran, where untold numbers of people face unemployment, deprivation, lack the most basic rights, and face prosecution, discrimination, displacement, hunger and capital punishment on a daily basis. Instead of providing asylum and support for those who have fled the criminal regime in Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan has become a place where the offices and activists of the Iranian opposition are victims of spying, assassination and even deportation back to Iran.

This disastrous situation imposed on the Iranian asylum seekers in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region is the outcome of the UNHCR showing no responsibility toward the political refugees who have fled the oppressive regime in Iran and their failure in not acting to settle them in a third country.  Moreover, not allowing these asylum seekers to work in Kurdistan and not providing them with any financial support by the UNHCR have made their living conditions especially during the COVID-19 pandemic extremely harsh.  Undoubtedly, such harsh living conditions stand behind this tragedy and dozens of similar tragedies in the recent past among the Iranian refugees living in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan Regional government that shows utmost indifference toward these asylum seekers and has no plan for their plight is also responsible for creating these unbearable conditions. These asylum seekers are often harassed and humiliated by the security forces and threatened with deportation to Iran.

The Iraqi government who have responsibility too, is also indifferent to their plight. As a result, the Iranian asylum seekers live in such harsh conditions that they resort to suicide.

The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees who regard the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi government responsible for the safety and the fate of the Iranian asylum seekers in Kurdistan also hold the UN responsible for securing the safety and the health of all these asylum seekers. It calls on all asylum seekers to unite themselves and struggle together to exert pressure on the KRG, the Iraqi government and UNHCR and force them to meet their demands. 

International Federation of Iraqi Refugees-IFIR

18 May 2021