Twenty Iraqi refugees currently detained in Colnbrook immigration detention centre are demanding they be released from conditions they describe as “worse than prison”.
In a statement sent to the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees they say:
“The Iraqi Embassy is collaborating with the Home Office to send people with strong family ties in the UK to a war zone. The British government is keeping us as prisoners.
Faraidon Khurshid Iraqi Kurdish Asylum Seekers from Kirkuk arrived in the UK 7 October 2010 (8 years). He is currently held in a Van with 6 Security guard at Heathrow Airport ,He has been told that he will be forcibly deported today on a Royal Jordanian air line flight at 17:05 hrs.
Avan Najmadeen was buried on Friday 26 October 2018 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. We believe that she is yet another victim of patriarchal tradition and violence against women. Her funeral was attended by family members and representatives of two organisations, the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) and the Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation (KMEWO).
On the night of Thursday 9 September 2018 34 people, mostly refugees from Iraqi Kurdistan, died after their boat sank in the Aegean Sea off the Karaburun peninsular in the Turkish province of Izmir.
Open letter to Mr Masud Barzani, the President of Kurdistan Democratic Party and
Mr Nechervan Barzani Deputy President
Gentlemen,
It has been approximately three years since an Australian family decided to return to Iraq. The family’s decision to return to Iraq was supported by the mother’s father, AZAD MIRAN, who is a military general, a former Kurdistan Democratic Party parliament member and an adviser to the former Kurdish President. Shortly after their return Azad Miran commenced interfering in his daughter’s private life, which resulted in conflicts between her and her husband. Consequently, on the 25th December 2018, after almost two years of continued struggle, the couple divorced in the Iraqi courts. The couple have two children; a daughter, 12, and a son, 8, both whom were born in Australia and hold only Australian citizenship. Both children are unwell and require ongoing medical care. Neither their treatment nor their medical specialists were available in Iraq. Their father continued to send them their medications until he lost contact with them on 18th March 2018.
UK Government continues to detain Iraqi Asylum seekers
The UK Government continues to threaten Iraqi and Kurdish nationals with forcible deportation and continues to detain them for long periods in detention centres. IFIR has received the following appeals from detainees held in Colnbrook & Harmondsworth,detention centres.
The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees’ (IFIR) publishes its demands for World Refugee Day
United Nations’ World Refugee Day has been held on 20 June every year since 2001, the 50th anniversary of the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention. World Refugee Day commemorates the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees. This year, it also marks a key moment for the public to show support for families forced to flee. IFIR, together with all organisations working worldwide to protect refugee rights, welcomes this important day.