UNHCR has Obligations too
By Maryam Namazie
For the past
six months, Abbas Rezai and Ghafor Zarin, two Iranian Kurdish political
activists, have been languishing in prison for ‘illegal entry’ into India. They have been beaten, shot at, wounded, and
criminalized; they face a serious risk of deportation back to persecution. The United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) in India has continually postponed making a decision on their
claim and granting them protection.
In Iraqi
Kurdistan, the UNHCR continues to refuse to address refugee living, medical,
food, protection and resettlement needs.
500 women, men and children have been participating in a sit-in since
June 3 in the hopes of pressuring the agency to finally address their human
needs and legitimate demands.
On June 20,
International Refugee Day, Ruud Lubbers, the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, addressing governments said: "Helping [refugees] and
protecting them is a moral and legal obligation, rather than an optional act of
charity." Mr. Lubbers would do
well to remind his staff and offices in Northern Iraq and India of their
obligations too.