UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
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Acts committed against employees or perceived supporters of these organizations may vary<br />
from verbal harassment and threats to individuals and their families, to kidnapping,<br />
physical attacks and even murder. Neither the local authorities nor the organizations<br />
themselves are capable of granting proper security to their respective local nationals and<br />
employees.<br />
3. Kurds and Other Segments of Iraqi Society<br />
Kurds are Iraq’s second largest ethnic group with an estimated 15 to 20% of the country’s<br />
population. 529 In particular in mixed areas such as Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk and Diyala,<br />
they have come under fierce attack from Sunni insurgent groups, both because of their<br />
(imputed) political opinion as well as their ethnicity. 530 The Kurdish ruling parties and<br />
population at large have been staunch supporters of the US-led invasion and toppling of the<br />
Government of Saddam Hussein, which had been responsible for extensive and systematic<br />
human rights violations against the Kurdish people. The Kurdish armed forces (Peshmerga)<br />
were a key ally to the coalition forces that overthrew the former Government in 2003. The<br />
MNF presence in and around the three Northern Governorates of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and<br />
Dahuk has been well-tolerated and even welcomed by the Kurdish authorities, as it has<br />
brought more respect and recognition to the Kurdish administration on a national and<br />
international level.<br />
Since the regime change, the Kurds have been fully involved in the political process. They<br />
have worked towards highly controversial goals such as federalism, which Sunni Arabs<br />
generally see as a potential trigger for Iraq’s break-up. 531 The Kurdish parties’ ambitions to<br />
incorporate Kirkuk and other “disputed areas” into the Region of Kurdistan are met with<br />
resistance by Arab and Turkmen groups. Representatives of the KDP and PUK as well as<br />
other Kurds prominently calling for the inclusion of Kirkuk and other “disputed areas” have<br />
therefore been targeted. Kurds have also been targeted by Arab Sunni insurgent groups so<br />
as to stir ethnic violence between Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds. 532<br />
In addition, the Kurds have maintained relations with Israel since the 1960s and received<br />
support in their activities against the former Ba’athist regime until 1975. However, Iraq and<br />
Israel are still officially at war. Since the toppling of the former regime, allegations that<br />
Israeli agents have been operating in Iraq’s Kurdish areas have been circulating. 533 A BBC<br />
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=62737. See also: Sudarsan Raghavan and Nancy Trejos,<br />
Kidnappers Strike Red Crescent’s Iraq Office, The Washington Post, 18 December 2006,<br />
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121700194.html.<br />
529<br />
CIA, see above footnote 147.<br />
530 428F,<br />
See also “Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen Ethnic-Based Christian Groups (Assyrians, Chaldeans,<br />
Armenians) 429F, Yazidis 430F and Shabak 431F in Ethnically Mixed Areas”.<br />
531<br />
See also “Government Officials and Other Persons Associated With the Current Iraqi Government,<br />
Administration and Institutions”.<br />
532<br />
See also “Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen428F, Ethnic-Based Christian Groups (Assyrians, Chaldeans,<br />
Armenians)429F, Yazidis430F and Shabak431F in Ethnically Mixed Areas”.<br />
533<br />
See, for example, Conal Urquhart and Michael Howard, Former covert Israeli forces “training Kurds in<br />
Iraq”, The Guardian, 2 December 2005, http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1655993,00.html;<br />
Seymour M. Hersh, Plan B, As June 30th approaches, Israel looks to the Kurds, The New Yorker, 21 June<br />
105