UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

Acts committed against employees or perceived supporters of these organizations may vary
from verbal harassment and threats to individuals and their families, to kidnapping,
physical attacks and even murder. Neither the local authorities nor the organizations
themselves are capable of granting proper security to their respective local nationals and
employees.
3. Kurds and Other Segments of Iraqi Society
Kurds are Iraq’s second largest ethnic group with an estimated 15 to 20% of the country’s
population. 529 In particular in mixed areas such as Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk and Diyala,
they have come under fierce attack from Sunni insurgent groups, both because of their
(imputed) political opinion as well as their ethnicity. 530 The Kurdish ruling parties and
population at large have been staunch supporters of the US-led invasion and toppling of the
Government of Saddam Hussein, which had been responsible for extensive and systematic
human rights violations against the Kurdish people. The Kurdish armed forces (Peshmerga)
were a key ally to the coalition forces that overthrew the former Government in 2003. The
MNF presence in and around the three Northern Governorates of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and
Dahuk has been well-tolerated and even welcomed by the Kurdish authorities, as it has
brought more respect and recognition to the Kurdish administration on a national and
international level.
Since the regime change, the Kurds have been fully involved in the political process. They
have worked towards highly controversial goals such as federalism, which Sunni Arabs
generally see as a potential trigger for Iraq’s break-up. 531 The Kurdish parties’ ambitions to
incorporate Kirkuk and other “disputed areas” into the Region of Kurdistan are met with
resistance by Arab and Turkmen groups. Representatives of the KDP and PUK as well as
other Kurds prominently calling for the inclusion of Kirkuk and other “disputed areas” have
therefore been targeted. Kurds have also been targeted by Arab Sunni insurgent groups so
as to stir ethnic violence between Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds. 532
In addition, the Kurds have maintained relations with Israel since the 1960s and received
support in their activities against the former Ba’athist regime until 1975. However, Iraq and
Israel are still officially at war. Since the toppling of the former regime, allegations that
Israeli agents have been operating in Iraq’s Kurdish areas have been circulating. 533 A BBC
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=62737. See also: Sudarsan Raghavan and Nancy Trejos,
Kidnappers Strike Red Crescent’s Iraq Office, The Washington Post, 18 December 2006,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700194.html.
529
CIA, see above footnote 147.
530 428F,
See also “Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen Ethnic-Based Christian Groups (Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Armenians) 429F, Yazidis 430F and Shabak 431F in Ethnically Mixed Areas”.
531
See also “Government Officials and Other Persons Associated With the Current Iraqi Government,
Administration and Institutions”.
532
See also “Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen428F, Ethnic-Based Christian Groups (Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Armenians)429F, Yazidis430F and Shabak431F in Ethnically Mixed Areas”.
533
See, for example, Conal Urquhart and Michael Howard, Former covert Israeli forces “training Kurds in
Iraq”, The Guardian, 2 December 2005, http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1655993,00.html;
Seymour M. Hersh, Plan B, As June 30th approaches, Israel looks to the Kurds, The New Yorker, 21 June
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