IFIR

Press Release 1.5.2011

Sweden to Attempt Mass Deportation of Iraqi Refugees

At least 30 Iraqi refugees are to be deported from Sweden on Wednesday 4^th May. Among those on the flight to Baghdad are several families.

Across Europe, governments are forcibly returning hundreds of people to Iraq. They claim that Iraq is a safe country to live and work in. But demonstrations across the country to demand jobs, electricity, clean water and an end to political corruption, have been violently repressed in the last months.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, 10 people have been killed by militia groups from the ruling parties, since demonstrations began in February. Hundreds more have been injured, arrested or disappeared. Cities across the region have been militarised, with thousands of armed groups from the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan occupying the streets and today, any attempt to mark International Workers Day has been banned in Kurdistan. Despite this, European governments have continued to support the Iraqi and Kurdistan regional governments, and have continued to deport people to the area.

'This mass deportation and all attacks on Iraqi people in Europe and Iraq must be stopped' says Dashty Jamal, Secretary of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees. 'We demand that the Swedish government cancels this flight and releases all those detained immediately. All European governments must put an end to this repressive policy'

Many of those who have been returned who left to escape persecution have been forced to live in hiding, changing their names and regularly moving addresses to avoid being found and killed. Some of those who have been deported have committed suicide.

Political pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government forced them to stop accepting deportations directly to the region last year. Now those identified as Kurdish, are forced to travel from Baghdad to Kurdistan, despite the dangers this involves.

Dashty Jamal says 'We call on all human rights organisations, trade unions and civil society groups to put pressure on the Iraqi government to stop accepting people who are returned by force'

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