Displaced and refugee families in Suleimaniya ... - Kurdish Globe

The Kurdish Globe No. 314, Saturday, July 23, 2011 10U.K. has a right to return illegalimmigrants to KurdistanThose who lose out most are the smugglersI must admit to getting confcfused when I hear or readpeople opposed to the U.K.policy on returning citizczens to Kurdistan againstBritain. What is it thatpeople are really opposedto? Those who oppose ourpolicy must believe thateither Kurdistan persecutesKurds or that the laws of theU.K. are of no account andsomehow don’t matter andits law courts are unfair.Let me explain. If anIraqi Kurd claims asylumin U.K. or anywhere else,they must claim persecutction as a Kurd or as a, say,a Christian or Turkmen inKurdistan. They may belclieve that, and they havea right to be heard. But Iwould say that is a characacterization of Kurdistanthat I do not recognize. Iassume the Kurdish Regcgional Government wouldagree with me on that. Infact, I would add that giventhe booming economy inKurdistan, there are plentyof opportunities for peopleto return and make a comfcfortable living here in theRegion.So, we are not talkingabout asylum or refugees.Who does Britain want tosend home? Simple: Peopcple who are living in Britacain illegally. Let me repeatit: People who are livingin Britain contrary to thecountry's laws. That is truefor any nationality, not justKurds.Logically, people who oppcpose U.K. policy have twochoices. Either they believethat people who are livingillegally in Britain shouldbe allowed to stay in Britainfor some reason or that thelaw in Britain is interpretedwrongly by U.K. courts.Kurdish asylum seekers in Calais, France. File Photo.A moment’s reflectionwould show that the firstchoice is nonsensical. Ifthe people are living inBritain legally, there isn’t aproblem and I believe andhope that they would findBritain a great place to live.We are thrilled that, for exacample, so many scholarsunder the Human CapacityProgramme are choosingBritain as the best place tostudy. I agree with them.But no one can live outscside the law in Britain: thatis completely against ourtraditions and culture and,well, illegal. That is whywe have laws in the firstplace.If the second choice thenthe answer is obvious: Hirea lawyer. And in fact, mostillegal immigrants do. Ican state categorically thatevery person of whatevernationality who is to be retcturned has had their day incourt before a British judge.And lost, often repeatedly.For us in Britain, a deciscsion by a court is final — itis a central feature of oursocial, political and econcnomic life. It is the cornerscstone of Britain. If a courtdecides the person can stay,they stay. End of story. Butif the court decides thatthey cannot stay, then theU.K. expects that person,again, whatever their natctionality, to leave the countctry. Wouldn’t any state?Our preference is that theperson leaves voluntarily.And the U.K. helps themto do so — and even givesthem money and training.But what if they refuse toleave voluntarily? Let meput it another way. What ifsomeone came to your ownhouse illegally and then refcfused to leave? Most peoplewould be hospitable, perhchaps even feel sorry for theindividuals concerned but,in the end, their patiencewould wear thin and theywould ask the authoritiesto remove them. That is allthe U.K. is seeking to do.But what about peoplewho have been living inBritain illegally and builta life for themselves? Onemight sympathize withthem, but at the end of theday, by starting their life inBritain illegally, they havebuilt “a house on sand.”Let me put it another way,if someone starts businesswith stolen money, do theyhave the right not to facethe law for that originaltheft several years later? Ofcourse not. An illegal act isan illegal act.This is particularly sowith people who have beenconvicted of criminal offcfenses in Britain. Are we reacally to think that people ofwhatever nationality wholive illegally in the U.K.and then are convicted ofcrimes should be allowedout of prison and put backon the street, free? Wouldany government or citizensof any state accept that?No, and that is why retcturning to their country oforigin is a regular and routctine part of inter-governmcmental relations. It happensdaily, throughout the world,and is a standard part of intcternational law. Why not inKurdistan?I can understand why thecriminal gangs who extortmoney from people andsmuggle them illegallyinto Britain might be oppcposed to returning citizens.It is, after all, bad for theirbusiness. But I think senscsible law-abiding people inKurdistan should be ableto see this from the U.K.’sperspective.Chris BowersBritish Consul GeneralPRESS PHOTOBodies of 9 migrant Kurds killed in Greece to be returnedThe Bodies of 9 migrantKurds, largely womenand children, killed in aroad accident in Greeceare set to be returned toKurdistan on Friday.The Kurds from minoricity religious group, theYazidi , who had enteredEurope illegally on theirway to join families,were killed in a road acccident last week when avan carrying14 peoplecrashed. The five othecers, also Kurds, haveremained in Greece fortreatment.Khairi Bozani, directorof the Yazidi affairs inthe Kurdistan RegionalGovernment, said: “Thebodies are expected toarrive at Erbil airport ataround 11 am tomorrow.“Identification documcments of a Muslim Kurdfrom Erbil were foundin the vehicle that wasbelieved to belong toone of the victims, butthat turned out he was aYazidi as well after theidentification of the bodicies.”A member of the Iraqiparliament Sharif Sulaimcman criticized the govecernment for not providicing satisfactory servicesin Yazidi populated areasso that they feel the needto immigrate.“We have been in touchwith the families of thevictims… they left beccause of lack of basicservices and safety. Thereare no job opportunitieswhich pushes the Yazidisto leave the country,” hesaid.The victims are fromYazidi areas in Mosuland Duhok province. InIraq there are about halfa million Yazidi, a Kurdicish-speaking people andmembers of a religionwith that is a complexsynthesis of Mesopotamcmian religious traditions,Christianity and IslamicSufi doctrines.