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

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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.
The Kurdish Globe No. 314, Saturday, July 23, 2011 11Displaced and refugee families inSuleimaniya require more aidLack of employees and funds are problems forthe Migrant and Migration OfficeAround 18,000 internally dispcplaced families now live in Sulcleimaniya province of Kurdistctan. Most of them are settledin camps while others live intents.“We have lack of employeesand budget in our directorate,that’s why we cannot help allthe displaced families,” saidthe Director of Migrant andMigration Office in Suleimaniycya Jabar Muhammed Ali.Ali, in an exclusive interviewwith the Globe, said the officewas founded to give a hand tothe internally displaced andKurdish deported familiesfrom Western countries. “Wehave recorded their cases aftcter they came into Kurdistan,”said Ali.Ali said the office helps familclies displaced because of bordcder bombing by Iranian forces.Following a blast that targetedSayedat Al-Najat church inBaghdad, many Christians fledto Suleimaniya to take shelter.Ali mentioned that the officegave gifts from Iraqi PresidentJalal Talabani and First Ladyof Iraq Hero Ibrahim, to thosewho were displaced because ofthe Sayedat Al-Najat churchblast.According to the office’s estctimates, 17,000 to 18,000 dispcplaced and deported familiesare registered in Suleimaniyaprovince.Ali explained that 9,100 ofthose families were displacedfrom the middle and southernparts of Iraq because of sectcA number of tents in the Kawa Camp, built for Iranian Kurds in Erbil by UNHCR.tarian violence and constantexplosions. Around 1,900families and young men areregistered as having been depcported to Kurdistan by Westecern countries.Regarding the families whofled before the spring uprisingof 1991and mass migration ofKurds to Iran, Ali said his offcfice has recorded 6,000 familclies that come back to Kurdistctan from Islamic Republic ofIran. They are Iraqi Kurds whohave returned.However, there are manyeastern Kurdish families(Kurds who live in Iran) whocame to Kurdistan from Rumcmadiya province. “There are420 families settled in Barikacamp. The camp contains refugcgee Kurds from Iran. The campwas built in cooperation withNHCR organization. They supcpervise the camp and we alsohelp them. Furthermore, thereare some other refugee familclies in Sherawan camp nearbyKhanaqain city and we couldnot give them hand becausethey are far from here,” saidAli.Ali asked Kurdistan PresidentMassoud Barzani and PrimeMinister Barham Salih to asscsist that refugees and displacedfamilies.The Migrant and MigrationOffice of Suleimaniya was setup in 2008 and was part of theMinistry of Extra RegionalAffairs and now is part of theMinistry of Interior of Iraq.GLOBE PHOTO / Safin HamedReal estate prices increase in SuleimaniyaBoth land and apartment prices have shot upIn Suleimaniya city, the prices ofland and apartments have goneup so profoundly to the degreethat in some areas the increase ismore than 30 percent. The pricesincrease daily and sometimes itis hard even for the experts toidentify the reasons behind this.The price of a 200-square-meterpiece of land can be more than$200,000.According to Noori Abdulla,who has a real estate office inSuleimaniya, the price of landhas increased because the govecernment stopped granting landto citizens several years ago andthe continual construction hasreduced the available land in thecity."A normal 200-square-meterplot of land in Kani Kurda neighbcborhood costs $80,000 and theland available for businesses aretwice as expensive as lands usedfor housing," Abdulla saidMuhammad Suleiman, anotherreal estate company owner, attctributed the price increases to thedecision the government madeconcerning loans for buildinghousing. Kurdistan RegionalGovernment implemented a lawwhere landowners who want tobuild housing can get a loan of20 million Iraqi dinars."The Suleimaniya protestsagainst corruption lowered theprice of land, but after the democonstrations ended, the pricesstarted to go up again. Now landis very expensive; a 200-squaremeterplot of land costs nearly$250,000," said SuleimanPrices for new apartments arealso on the rise. Arsaln Khider,who sells apartments, said mostof the apartments have becomesurprisingly expensive due to thedemand."Last year, you could buy a110-square-meter apartment for$50,000, but the same apartmentnow costs $70,000 to $80,000.I believe this is partly becauseSuleimaniya's population has inccreased," Khider noted.According to the latest officialstatistics, Suleimaniya has around18,000 displaced families. Economcmists believe this issue increasedthe price of renting and led to anincrease in apartment prices.Izzat Sabir, a lecturer with theDepartment of Economics at Sulcleimaniya University, said thereis more than one reason behindthe increases. The improved fincnancial situation of citizens andthe economic growth in Kurdistctan Region also influence housingprices. Sabir said many peoplealso buy apartments as an investmcment and for the rental income.
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Displaced and refugee families in Suleimaniya ... - Kurdish Globe

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