We strongly condemn the UK-Iraq security-legal agreement, which targets Kurdish and Iraqi refugees!

We strongly condemn the UK-Iraq security-legal agreement, which targets Kurdish and Iraqi refugees!

On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Iraq, where she met with Iraqi Home Minister Abdul Amir Shamari before travelling to the Kurdistan Region to meet with Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. As a result of her visit, the UK, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region Government signed security-legal agreements on the issue of preventing illegal immigration from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to the UK, exchanging information, providing legal assistance, extraditing smugglers, and returning Iraqi refugees whose cases had been rejected.

This agreement comes at a time when Iraq and the entire region are undergoing instability and conflict, to which Britain and other Western powers have made significant contributions. War, genocide, destruction, relocation, and homelessness have endangered the lives of tens of millions of people. Political repression is characteristic of the region’s states, and Iraq and Kurdistan deprive people of their basic rights and freedoms, with dozens, if not hundreds, of demonstrators detained, injured, and killed! Racism, fascism, and discriminating nationalism against refugees have become hallmarks of bourgeois governments and organisations across Europe! War, destruction, oppression, poverty, and hardship have pushed many to flee their homes and relocate to Europe to escape oppression and live a peaceful life!

The Home Secretary is enforcing the counter-terrorism policy outlined by Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his election campaign to prevent refugees from accessing the UK by boat from France by apprehending smugglers. The British government has given the border police £75 million to strengthen borders and work with European nations. They have also visited Turkey for the same reason.

The Kurdish and Iraqi refugees were horrified by the news. According to this agreement between the UK, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region Government, at least 5,000 refugees from the KRG and Iraq whose applications have been refused in the UK will be held in imprisoned an kept there until the preparations for their deportation are completed! International criteria for refugee rights are violated by these agreements with the nation from which the refugee has fled for social, political, and economic reasons.

The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees strongly condemns this agreement, as well as any other that puts refugees’ lives, security, and future at risk. We hold the Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Governments responsibly for any attempts to undermine the lives and security of refugees in the UK.

We also declare that we stand on the side of the civilised and freedom-loving people of Britain against the British Government’s anti-asylum stance and are at the forefront of all attempts to recognise the right to asylum and residence as a normal and fundamental human right. War and turmoil cause people to flee their homeland in search of a quiet and respectable life; to the best of our abilities, we will try. Additionally, we urge refugees to get ready right away, warn their solicitors about the risks associated with this agreement, and get in touch with the Federation immediately if they are detained. Additionally, take part in events, protests, and rallies to support refugee rights. Communicate with your local MP. Get in touch with the federation to steer clear of any potential dangers.

Internation Federation of Iraqi Refugees-IFIR

28/11/2024