|
KurdistanObserver.com
Iranian Kurdish Refugees Stranded On Iraqi Side Of Jordan
Border: UNHCR
AMMAN, Feb 11 (AFP) - The UN High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) voiced concern Friday for 102 Iranian Kurds stranded on the
Iraqi side of the border with Jordan after being refused entry into the kingdom.
The refugees fled in three batches over the past four weeks a camp for
Iranian Kurds west of Baghdad and include at least five pregnant women and a
large number of children, the UNHCR said in a statement from Geneva received in
Jordan.
"They have not been permitted to enter Jordan, nor to join another group of
660 refugees -- mostly Iranian Kurds from Al Tash -- who have been living in a
camp in no-man's land between the two countries for the past year and a half,"
it said.
The agency said the refugees "are believed to be surviving on the charity of
passers by" but warned that this situation "will clearly not be tenable for much
longer".
"Weather conditions at the border have been very harsh in recent days, with
freezing temperaturs and strong winds," the agency said, adding that it was
seeking to provide them with supplies from Iraq.
The UNHCR "has so far not been permitted to bring assistance across from the
Jordanian side", the statement added.
The agency said it would try to relocate the Iranian Kurds to northern Iraq
or return them to Al Tash, a camp near the flashpoint Iraqi cities of Fallujah
and Ramadi that has sufferd from the volatile security situation in Iraq.
Jordan, already home to 1.7 million Palestinian refugees, has steadfastly
refused to allow more refugees on its territory for demographic and economic
reasons.
At the onset of the March 2003 US-led war against Iraq, Jordan set up a
transit camp for refugees who have residency in third countries and a no-man's
land border desert camp for all others.
|
