Out of Iraq
Thousands of refugees may race towards Turkey's borders in the event of a US-led war in Iraq. Elizabeth Frantz reports on Turkey's plans to handle the crisis
If American missiles start flying in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis may scramble towards Iraq's long borders with Iran and Turkey. If patterns from the 1991 Gulf War repeat, these two countries may receive the bulk of the Iraqi refugees. Metin Corabatir, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey, told Al- Ahram Weekly that the UNHCR is planning for a possible caseload of 600,000 Iraqi refugees. Feray Salman, general secretary of the Turkish Human Rights Association, told the Weekly that they currently expect 276,000 refugees to arrive in Turkey.
"We have great concerns about the humanitarian impact of a war," said UNHCR's Corabatir. "Sixty per cent of Iraqis rely on food baskets given to them through the Oil-for-Food Programme. If this is interrupted during the crisis, there's no telling what will happen." With the Iraqi population already suffering from 12 years of sanctions, displaced Iraqis will be in even greater need of international assistance in the event of a war.
In preparation for the crisis, UNHCR Turkey has been storing material aid, tents, food, medicine, blankets and heaters along border areas. "We have been working hard to prepare our logistic and operational capacities staff to strengthen our office's abilities. Our emergency response teams, which can be deployed anywhere in the world within 72 hours, are on stand-by," Corabatir said.
The World Food Programme has stockpiled enough food in Turkey and other countries bordering Iraq to feed as many as 900,000 refugees for 10 weeks. In addition, the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS) is preparing relief items in its newly-rented centres in Silopi, a Turkish town near the Iraqi border. The head of the TRCS, Ertan Gonen, has stated that the organisation is prepared to welcome between 200,000 and 250,000 refugees at the border.
Despite preparations on the Turkish side of the border, Ankara plans to prevent Iraqi refugees from spilling across its frontiers by containing them in refugee camps in northern Iraq. On 22 October 2002, a controversial plan calling for the closure of Turkey's borders with Iraq was signed by then Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. The plan calls for the establishment of 18 refugee camps -- including 12 camps up to 60 miles from the Turkish border inside Iraq in Kurdish-controlled territory and six overflow camps within Turkish borders -- to hold up to 275,000 refugees. According to human rights workers in Turkey, this document is still the basis for Turkey's preparations for a refugee crisis in Iraq. The plan states that the camps inside Iraq located farthest from the Turkish borders will be filled first. Only when the camps within Iraq meet their full capacity will refugees be transferred to camps within Turkey.
Turkey's plans reflect fears about a massive movement of Iraqi refugees towards their borders, as happened during the Gulf War. In 1991, Turkey sealed its borders to more than half a million Kurds from northern Iraq who fled after Iraqi forces crushed an uprising in the region. More than 1,500 Kurds died while struggling to reach the border, where insufficient preparations for the provision of shelter and relief supplies caused further suffering.
Human rights advocates have criticised the policy of sealing the Turkish border to massive movements of refugees. UNHCR's Metin Corabatir said in an interview that the UN refugee agency's chief, Ruud Lubbers, wrote to officials of all of Iraq's neighbouring countries asking them on behalf of the UNHCR to keep the borders open for refugees.
The plan to close the border and contain refugees in camps within northern Iraq could trap Iraqis in a killing field, violating their right to seek asylum in a safe country. "Asylum seekers and refugees have a right to seek refuge in a place they consider [to be] safe. Turkey cannot justify keeping its borders closed to refugees on the grounds that it has set up 'safe areas' in Northern Iraq," said the New York-based Human Rights Watch in a report published in February 2003.
The Turkish plan is also controversial because of the presence of Turkish troops in Kurdish-controlled areas in Iraq. Although US Secretary of State Colin Powell has warned Turkey against sending troops into northern Iraq, Turkish authorities fear that if Iraqi Kurds form an independent state, national aspirations among its own Kurdish population could be rekindled. In order to quash any moves by Kurds to form a state or to seize the oil-rich cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Turkey wants a role in disarming Kurdish militias and controlling the Iraqi territory along the Turkish border. The Turkish military presence would also enable the capture of alleged PKK members and prevent refugees from entering southeastern Turkey.
Human rights workers worry that Turkey will use its military presence in Iraq as a front for carrying out unlawful campaigns against Kurds and that Turkish armed forces might employ the same brutal tactics -- including mass detention, torture, and extra-judicial killings -- used when fighting the PKK in southeastern Turkey from 1984 to 1999.
Feray Salman of the Turkish Human Rights Association, told the Weekly that there are concerns that the Turkish- built refugee encampments in Iraq will be used as detention centres by Turkish authorities rather than safe havens for refugees. "Because Turkey will not permit [access by] international and domestic humanitarian aid organisations, monitoring the camps will be difficult. I have fears that some of the camps will be used not for [providing] humanitarian aid but as detention centres for people whom Turkey wants to detain for political reasons."
Salman explained that although it is still unclear which organisations will manage the camps, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will most probably play a role. However, she said, when and how these camps will be opened for international monitoring remains uncertain.
Turkey is not the only neighbour of Iraq that is reluctant to host a new wave of refugees. Iraq also shares borders with Iran, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Although relief has been organised along the borders several countries, none has made a firm commitment to accepting an influx of refugees beyond their border areas.
Iran -- which according to UNHCR already shelters more than 202,000 Iraqis, or half the world's recognised Iraqi refugees -- hosts the highest number of refugees in the world. Although camps have been prepared on Iranian territory along its southwestern border with Iraq, Iranian Minister of Information Hojatoleslam Ali Yunesi told a press conference in Iran on 7 March that Tehran would help the refugees first on Iraq's own soil, then on Iranian territory only if required.
Land for encampments has also been set aside along Jordan's eastern border. However, according to reports by Reuters, officials say that Jordan would close its borders to any mass influx from Iraq.
A lack of funding has further constrained international relief efforts for Iraqi refugees. "Financially speaking, we have spent $20 million so far on regional preparations but we still need another $60 million in donations. The total appeal for all UNHCR operations for the crisis was $120 million. We hope this money will arrive," said Corabatir.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 20 - 26 March 2003 (Issue No. 630)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/630/re5.htm