Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan demand UN resettle them
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – On Sunday, dozens of Syrian refugees protested in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq demanding UN resettle them in a third country.
This is the second time for the refugees to protest, as they protested in the same place last month. The protestors raised banners calling for what they considered to be the rights of any refugee in the world.
It is worthy of note that Syrian refugees have not been granted asylum in the Kurdistan region. The UNHCR has only given them an asylum seeker paper.
Refugees complain about the lack of international support for their demands and rights, especially the right to resettlement and education.
Hussam Abbas, a Syrian refugee in Kurdistan Region of Iraq since 2013 and has four children who came from Barika camp in Sulaymaniyah to participate in the protest, said “The UNHCR says it refuses what is happening on the border. Open the legal door to the refugee so that the illegal one is closed.”
“The issue of resettlement is the right of refugees, but they say it is not refugees’ rights,” he added.
“Our economic situation is so difficult. My husband does not always find work,” said Noura M’amo, who fled Turkish bombing during the attack on Afrin, north Syria, three years ago.
M’amo has three children, including a ten-year-old special needs girl.
“My daughter needs care and medicine. I cannot afford to buy her medicine,” she told North Press.
The protesters raised placards reading, “The UNHCR donors’ funds do not reach us”, “We have the right to be included in the resettlement program”, and “The UNHCR’s failure to fulfill its duties, helped the corrupt to exploit and defraud the refugees”.