Makhmur Camp Braces For New Wave Of Kurds
By Basil Adas, Correspondent
June 23, 2007
Baghdad: The Makhmur camp, southwest of Arbil, is bracing for a new wave of
refugees as a result of growing tension along the Iraq-Turkey border, camp
officials have said.
The two-square kilometre camp, which is run by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, is home to Kurdish refugees from Turkey who fled
their villages following clashes between the Turkish troops and Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) fighters.
"We have taken more measures to meet further and possible large-scale refugee
movement across the border," Salar, an employee at the Makhmur refugee camp,
told Gulf News.
"Turkish Kurds living in the mountainous areas close to Kurdistan border may
escape from military operations carried out by Turkish troops in the coming
weeks and flee to Makhmur camp," he said.
"Few days ago, villages in Arbil mountains were bombarded by Turkish air and
artillery units which forced Turkish Kurds to cross into Iraqi Kurdistan and
seek asylum in the camp," Salar said.
"If the tension prevails in the region, our camp will receive hundreds of
families and this is a grave problem for Iraq as well as the international
community."
Integration
Over the years, Turkish Kurds in Makhmur camp have integrated into the Iraqi
Kurdistan society.
"I am a Kurd from Turkey and I married an Iraqi Kurd. We have been living
together in Arbil for eight years now," Ceyhan Turbal, a Turkish Kurd told Gulf
News.
"There are strong social and humanitarian ties and I think if the Iraqi
Kurdistan region obtains its full constitutional rights, it will become a safe
haven for many Turkish Kurds who face continuous human rights violations by
Turkish troops," she said.
According to sources in Arbil, the capital of Kurdistan territory, the Iraqi
Kurdistan government facilitated humanitarian asylum for Turkish Kurds. Hundreds
more are waiting to obtain Iraqi citizenship, particularly those who are married
to Iraqi Kurds.
