EASO COI QUERY FINAL ANSWER

SYRIA

Date of the query 21 December 2017 Completion date 23 January 2018

Question/Subject : The Kocher tribe in .

1. Any information on the Kocher tribe in Syria. No information was found apart from ‘Kocher’ meaning ‘nomad’ and that the tribe may reside in the Region of Iraq.

Disclaimer The response to this COI query has been elaborated according to the EASO COI Query User Guide, the Common EU Guidelines for Processing COI and the EASO COI Report Methodology. The information provided has been researched, evaluated and processed with utmost care within a limited time frame. However, this document does not pretend to be exhaustive neither conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to international protection status. If a certain event, person or organisation is not mentioned in the response, this does not mean that the event has not taken place or that the person or organisation does not exist. Terminology used should not be regarded as indicative of a particular legal position. The information in the report does not necessarily reflect the opinion of EASO and makes no political statement whatsoever. The target audience is case workers, COI researchers, policy makers, and decision making authorities. The answer was finalised in Malta on 23 January 2018. Any event taking place after this date is not included in this answer.

Contributing Countries The final answer is based on information provided by COI specialists/units from CH, EASO, MT, NL, SK.

Answer

1. Name, concept and tribe Sources provided the following information on the term ‘Kocher’ as a concept and as a tribe: In correspondence with EASO, Dr. Harriet Allsopp, author of the book The in Syria: Political Parties and Identity in the (2014), stated the following regarding the ‘Kocher’ tribe:

1

‘The Kocher meaning, is for Kurds anyway, connected to the words 'Koch Ber' with its meaning related to nomadic lifestyle - people who move from place to place. […] The Kocher includes many different clans, mostly Kurdish but also Arab (the tribe, led by the Daham family, which were also nomadic and used the same areas). Although I am not sure that they would classify themselves with the Kurdish word Kocher, they would also be understood to be of the Kocher because they are nomadic and of the area. […] Kurdish Kocher came under the Miran tribal confederation during the period of Mustafa Pasha rule (about 100-150 years ago).’1 In correspondence with EASO for this query, Dr. Jordi Tejel, a historian at the University of Neuchâtel, stated that it is mentioned in his book that the Miran in Syria are also known as the Kochar2, or, are a branch of the Miran3. In correspondence with EASO for this query, Dr. Jordi Tejel said that another branch of the Miran is called the Musarêshand.4 However, in contrast, in correspondence with EASO for this query, Dr. Gareth Stansfield, Professor of Middle East Politics and the Al-Qasimi Chair of Arab Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter, who specialises in Kurdistan politics, stated that: ‘The Miran do not originate from the NW Iraqi Kurdistan area, and so their ties to the Kocher tribe [in Syria] would be non-existent. My own knowledge, and my sources, would place the Miran further to the east, in Raniya, Qala Diza, and the Pizhder tribal area, with sub groups among them being Mirawdelis and Pizhdharis in general. They would have 'Kocher' among them, but not from the [Syrian] tribe, but as travelling transhumance pastoralists’. Dr. Stansfield also explained that according to his sources in the Kurdistan region: ‘the label 'Kocher', in Syria and Iraq, has two different usages. The first is certainly tribal, and the Kocher exist as a distinct tribe in [north-eastern] Syria and also into [north-western] Iraq - particularly around Sumail and Dohuk. The second use of the term comes from its actual meaning. 'Kocher' [which] means 'traveller', and is used to refer to those Kurds who are migratory (…), who traditionally would follow their flocks from the plains in the spring to the mountains in the summer - which used to be a very common practice. With this in mind, virtually every Kurdish tribe, the Miran included, would have 'Kocher' among them’.5 A Syrian Kurdish media source provided slightly different information in reference to the people living in the ‘Kojarat’ area of Syria more broadly. The (ANHA) is a Kurdish/ news website based in Al-Hasakah that is the news agency of the ‘semi-autonomous Kurdish region in in Syria’6, and affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD).7 It is also described by Voice of America (VOA) as a ‘Syrian-Kurdish activist-run media group’8. A 2015 Arabic-language article by ANHA states the following about the ‘Kojer clan’:9 [Informal translation] ‘Demographically speaking, Kojarat [region] is characterized by its tribal structure. The tribes of this region are divided into two major clans: Shald and Miran. The natives 2 1 Allsopp, H., Email correspondence with EASO, 21 January 2018. 2 Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds, Routledge, 2009, p. 73 mentioned in Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 3 Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 4 Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 5 Stansfield, G., Email correspondence with EASO, 11 January 2017. 6 Stars and Stripes, US: Syrian forces nearing ‘striking distance’ of Raqqa, 10 May 2017, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 7 Kurd Watch, Tell Abyad: Battles for ‘Ayn ‘Isa, 2 February 2016, url, accessed 15 January 2018. 8 VOA, IS fighters expected to evacuate Raqqa, October 15 2017, url, accessed 15 January 2018. 9 ANHA, Al-Kujr of the ancient clans that preserved the Kurdish heritage [informal translation from Arabic], 29 January 2015, url, accessed 5 January 2018. European Asylum Support Office, MTC Block A, Winemakers Wharf, Grand Harbour Valletta, MRS 1917, Malta Tel: +356 22487500, website: www.easo .europa.eu

of Kojarat maintain that the designation was given to Kurdish clans which worked in ranching in the early 18th century. ‘Miran’ was the name given to a number of Kojerian clans, namely Miran, Dodira, Alka and Aalka. Shald, the other branch of the Kojer clan, is composed of the following clans: Khirka which is spread over the villages of Bani, Shkafti, Ali Kamish, Sherk and Takl Bakl; Taya which inhabits the village of Kirki Hyoul; and the clans of Mousa Rasha, Batoua, and Kajan. The leadership of these clans moved to Al-Basha, a branch of Rash Agha family in the beginning of the 19th century. (…) the Shald are divided into 5 parts: 1- Wara Seri which inhabited the villages of Soweidiya, Sikra, Kaldouman, and Karasor Fakah 2- Sinaka which inhabited the villages of Bista Sous and Tabki 3- Berkalhi which settled in the villages of Kara Joukh, Kanya Dreige, Tal Khanzir, Kalhi, Karkandal, Kandak, and Karki Hioul 4- Khirka which settled in the villages of Ali Kamish, Bani Shekafti, Sherk, and Takl Bakl 5- Taya which inhabited the village of Karki Hioul’.10 2. Other Characteristics English sources found describe the Kocher as a nomadic Kurdish tribe11, or, as semi- nomadic/sedentary12. A 2015 Arabic-language article on the ANHA website states that the ‘Kojer clan’ are herders of sheep and livestock.13 Dr. Tejel stated that the Kocher in Syria are Kurds who speak the language and are Sunni Muslims14. Dr. Allsopp also stated that the Kurdish Kocher in Syria speak Kurmanji Kurdish.15 3. Geographic locations and neighbouring groups According to a 2009 book on Syria’s Kurds by Dr. Jordi Tejel, the Miran tribe has been split across the border between Syria’s Upper Jazira and Bahdinan in Iraq, since the delimitation of the Syria-Iraq border in the 1920s.16 More specifically, since the 1970s, the tribe was located in Hasakah province between Derik and Karachok [Qara Jokh].17 According to Dr. Allsopp: ‘The Kocher are found in Syria, Iraq and in , around the border regions primarily. They used to migrate seasonally between different areas and were known for keeping livestock but have all settled. Within the Syria Kurdish Kocher are about 20 clans, inhabiting about 30 villages in the of Syria. Some others live in towns and cities in the region or have migrated more widely. Many clan and family relations extend across these international borders.’18

3 10 ANHA, Al-Kujr of the ancient clans that preserved the Kurdish heritage [informal translation from Arabic], 29 January 2015, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 11 Hiller, B., Syria’s Kurds quietly consolidating, Warscapes, 13 August 2012, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 12 Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds, Routledge, 2009, p. 10 mentioned in Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 13 ANHA, Al-Kujr of the ancient clans that preserved the Kurdish heritage [informal translation], 29 January 2015, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 14 Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 15 Allsopp, H., Email correspondence with EASO, 21 January 2018. 16 Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds, Routledge, 2009, p. 73 mentioned in Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 17 Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds, Routledge, 2009, p. 73 mentioned in Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 18 Allsopp, H., Email correspondence with EASO, 21 January 2018. European Asylum Support Office, MTC Block A, Winemakers Wharf, Grand Harbour Valletta, MRS 1917, Malta Tel: +356 22487500, website: www.easo .europa.eu

The 2015 Arabic-language article on the ANHA website states that the following on the ‘Kojer clan’ location: [Informal translation] ‘The region was named Kojarat after its inhabitants: the Kojer clans who had settled in the area extending from Mount Qara and Jokh [Qarrah Jokh or Qarajokh is a hill area in far eastern countryside of Qamishly district, near Al-Malikiyah, in Al Hasakah governorate19] southwards to the borders between Rouj Afa [Rojava] and Bashur Kurdistan [Iraqi Kurdistan] […], covering 33 villages’.20 Reporting from 2012 indicates that the Kocher have a cultural centre located in a small village called Bestasos [also spelled Besta Sûs, Bista Sous] in northeastern Syria21. The Kurdish village of Besta Sûs is located approximately 22.7 km south of Al-Malikiyah/Derik22. The Kocher tribe was reportedly forced by the Syrian Assad regime to settle permanently in the region in the past, according to a local villager interviewed by the English news website Warscapes.23 Al Yarubiyah [also called Yarwbieh] is a town in the Syrian governorate of Al Hasakah, on the border with Iraq. In the Kurdish language, Al Yarubiyah is called Tel koçek, Til koçer, Til Kocher24 of Tel Kojar25. Til Kocher is located on the Syrian border with Iraq.26 It is 20% populated by Kurds and 80% populated by , the largest Arab tribe being the Shammar27, who share the territory with Kurds and maintain their own militia28. The Shammar are described on social media by an amateur Syria cartographer as the historical ‘neighbours’ of the Kocher tribe in Syria29. Corroborating information on the Kocher tribe in Til Kocher could not be found. A map of published in 2002 by M.R. Izady shows a tribe called ‘Miran’ in the north- eastern tip of Syria near the border with Iraq and Turkey30. 4. Activities, treatment, relations with other groups Information on the treatment and activities of the Kocher was scarce. According to Dr. Allsopp, based on her knowledge, the Kocher tribe in particular have ‘not faced any particular discrimination, although they have been forced to settle’. She provided the following further information: ‘There have been some conflicts in the past between the Pasha (of the Miran) and Daham (Shammar Arab) tribes - notably in the 1930s when Kurds and Christians

4 19 SOHR, Turkish bombing on the Syrian-Iraqi border kills 18 fighters of the Kurdish forces including workers of its media center, 15 April 2017, url; SOHR, 98 persons including 18 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them and 22 persons were killed yesterday, 27 April 2017, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 20 ANHA, Al-Kujr of the ancient clans that preserved the Kurdish heritage [informal translation], 29 January 2015, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 21 Egypt Independent, Kurdish Syria: From cultural to armed revolution, 28 July 2012, url, accessed 5 January 2018; Hiller, B., Syria’s Kurds quietly consolidating, Warscapes, 13 August 2012, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 22 Google Maps, Besta sus to Al-Malikiyah – Syria, n.d., url, accessed 5 January 2018; Wikimapia, Besta Sûs – Syria, n.d., url, accessed 5 January 2018. 23 Hiller, B., Syria’s Kurds quietly consolidating, Warscapes, 13 August 2012, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 24 Kurdistana.binxetê, Arabisierung die Namen der Dörfer - In Kreise Derik arabisiert zu Al Malikia (Arabization the names of the villages - In circles Derik Arabises to Al Malikia), url, accessed 5 January 2018; PUKMedia, YPG takes control of Til Kocher, 27 October 2013, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 25 Enab Baladi, Arabs, Kurds, and the social ties that overcome political conflict, 14 August 2016, url. 26 PUKMedia, YPG takes control of Til Kocher, 27 October 2013, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 27 Carnegie MEC, Arab Tribes Split Between Kurds and Jihadists, 15 May 2014, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 28 Firat News Agency, Al-Sanadid forces: We go wherever the YPG goes, 16 July 2015, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 29 Scholl, H., [Twitter], 13 December 2015, url, accessed 5 January 2018. 30 Izady, M.R., South and Southeastern Kurdistan: Tribes and Clans [Map], url, accessed 16 January 2018. European Asylum Support Office, MTC Block A, Winemakers Wharf, Grand Harbour Valletta, MRS 1917, Malta Tel: +356 22487500, website: www.easo .europa.eu

petitioned for autonomy for the Jazira regions. For the most part coexistence between Arab and Kurdish clans in the region is peaceful, and today the majority cooperate with the PYD led local administration, although some clans support the Assad government. […] Kurds in general have faced discrimination by the Syrian government because of their ethnic identity.’31 A 1962 census of the Al Hassakah governorate by the Assad government stripped citizenship from Kurds in the Jazira region32. Dr. Tejel’s book states that the Syrian government announced the withdrawal of citizenship for the inhabitants of the region between Derik and Karachok [Qara Jokh] where the Miran tribe was located.33 Those who were registered as ‘foreigners’ (Ajanib) and those who were not registered under the census (Maktoum), are the ‘main profiles of stateless refugees’ in Syria.34 In 2011, the Syrian government enacted a Decree to restore the citizenship rights of Syrian Kurds who had previously had it taken away35. The measure would reportedly apply to roughly 300,000 Kurds36. UNHCR reports in 2016 that by mid-2013, over 100,000 stateless Syrian Kurds had obtained Syrian nationality; however, many Kurds remain stateless due to the instability of the conflict and because they were not registered in the 1962 census.37 Due to lack of reliable data, the number is estimated to be about 160,000.38 According to Dr. Tejel’s book on Syria’s Kurds, the regions inhabited by the Miran were also impacted by Arabisation policies of the 1970s.39 During the 1970s, many young Kurds from the area felt ‘deep- rooted solidarity’ across the Syria-Iraq border, and left to join the Iraqi Peshmerga. In the 1980s and 1990s, some members of the Syrian Miran also reportedly joined the People’s Liberation Army of Kurdistan (PLAK), an armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)40. A 2017 research summary on sub-state security in Iraq by the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), an independent non-profit think-tank based in Germany, states the following about the Miran: ‘In the 1970s on the Iraqi side of the border, the Iraqi government moved 7 villages of Kurdish Miran tribes (roughly 18,000 Miran tribespeople) to Rabi’a sub-district in Iraq, located along the Syrian border. Since recapturing territory from ISIL in October- December 2014, local Iraqi Kurdish tribes, including members of the Miran, have joined the Iraqi Peshmerga’s 2,000 member auxiliary tribal forces to patrol the border areas with Syria in Zummar and Rab’ia, including the 7 Kurdish Miran villages’.41

Further information and clarifications on the differences between Kocher and Miran could not be found.

5 31 Allsopp, H., Email correspondence with EASO, 21 January 2018. 32 Al Arabiya, Syrian Kurds naturalized as reform law drawn up, 7 April 2011, url; McGee, T., The Stateless Kurds of Syria, Tilburg Law Review, No. 19, 2014, url, p. 173, 181; NRC and ISI, Addressing stateless in the Syria refugee context, 2016, url, p. 18 33 Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds, Routledge, 2009, p. 76 mentioned in Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 34 NRC and ISI, Addressing stateless in the Syria refugee context, 2016, url, p. 45. 35 McGee, T., The Stateless Kurds of Syria, Tilburg Law Review, No. 19, 2014, url, p. 173, 181. 36 Al Arabiya, Syrian Kurds naturalized as reform law drawn up, 7 April 2011, url. 37 UNHCR, In Search of Solutions: Addressing Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa, September 2016, url, p. 8, 11. 38 NRC and ISI, Addressing stateless in the Syria refugee context, 2016, url, p. 7. 39 Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds, Routledge, 2009, p. 76 mentioned in Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 40 Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds, Routledge, 2009, p. 76 mentioned in Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. 41 GPPi, Zummar, 16 August 2017, url. European Asylum Support Office, MTC Block A, Winemakers Wharf, Grand Harbour Valletta, MRS 1917, Malta Tel: +356 22487500, website: www.easo .europa.eu

Bibliography Al Arabiya, Syrian Kurds naturalized as reform law drawn up, 7 April 2011, https://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/07/144582.html, accessed 5 January 2018. Allsopp, H., Email correspondence with EASO, 21 January 2018. ANHA (Hawar News Agency), Al-Kujr of the ancient clans that preserved the Kurdish heritage [informal translation from Arabic], 29 January 2015, http://www.hawarnews.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%88%D8%AC%D8%B1- %D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1- %D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A9- %D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA-%D8%A7/, accessed 5 January 2018. Carnegie MEC (Middle East Centre), Arab Tribes Split Between Kurds and Jihadists, 15 May 2014, http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/55607, accessed 5 January 2018 Egypt Independent, Kurdish Syria: From cultural to armed revolution, 28 July 2012, http://www.egyptindependent.com/kurdish-syria-cultural-armed-revolution/, accessed 5 January 2018. Enab Baladi, Arabs, Kurds, and the social ties that overcome political conflict, 14 August 2016, http://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2016/08/arabs-kurds-social-ties-overcome-political-conflicts- 2/, accessed 5 January 2018 Firat News Agency, Al-Sanadid forces: We go wherever the YPG goes, 16 July 2015, available at: https://en1kurdipost.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/al-sanadid-forces-we-go-wherever-the-ypg-goes- 2/, accessed 5 January 2018. Google Maps, Besta sus to Al-Malikiyah – Syria, n.d., https://www.google.com.mt/maps/dir/Besta+s%C3%BBs,+Syria/Al- Malikiyah,+Syria/@37.1099074,42.0422995,12z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4 009a2346433e41b:0x47b17638044c37d1!2m2!1d42.146744!2d37.0434393!1m5!1m1!1s0x400976f 31ac119ad:0x49624774a8e96549!2m2!1d42.1355904!2d37.1766607!3e0?shorturl=1&hl=en, accessed 5 January 2018. GPPi (Global Public Policy Institute), Zummar, 16 August 2017, http://www.gppi.net/publications/iraq-after-isil-zummar/?L=0%252525252527, accessed 5 January 2018. Hiller, B., Syria’s Kurds quietly consolidating, Warscapes, 13 August 2012, http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/syrias-kurds-quietly-consolidating, accessed 5 January 2018. Izady, M.R., South and Southeastern Kurdistan: Tribes and Clans [Map], https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r2nbGXpVFnZ2RDYkdxa3dRVms/view, accessed 16 January 2018. Kurdistana.binxetê, Arabisierung die Namen der Dörfer - In Kreise Derik arabisiert zu Al Malikia (Arabization the names of the villages - In circles Derik Arabises to Al Malikia), http://www.kurdistanabinxete.com/Erebkirin/Derik_Erebkirin.htm, accessed 5 January 2018. Kurd Watch, Tell Abyad: Battles for ‘Ayn ‘Isa, 2 February 2016, http://www.kurdwatch.org/?e3740, accessed 15 January 2018. McGee, T., The Stateless Kurds of Syria, Tilburg Law Review, No. 19, 2014, http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/22112596- 01902017;jsessionid=_DD07Ul_zHMy5JCvaIAOV0jT.x-brill-live-02, accessed 5 January 2018. NRC and ISI, Addressing stateless in the Syria refugee context, 2016, http://www.syrianationality.org/pdf/report.pdf, accessed 5 January 2018.

European Asylum Support Office, MTC Block A, Winemakers Wharf, Grand Harbour Valletta, MRS 1917, Malta 6 Tel: +356 22487500, website: www.easo .europa.eu

PUKMedia, YPG takes control of Til Kocher, 27 October 2013, http://www.pukmedia.com/en/EN_Direje.aspx?Jimare=15573, accessed 5 January 2018. Scholl, H., [Twitter], 13 December 2015, https://twitter.com/ver_scholl_en/status/676196894297726976, accessed 5 January 2018. SOHR (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights), 98 persons including 18 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them and 22 persons were killed yesterday, 27 April 2017, http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=65448, accessed 15 January 2018. SOHR (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights), Turkish bombing on the Syrian-Iraqi border kills 18 fighters of the Kurdish forces including workers of its media center, 15 April 2017, http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=65368, accessed 15 January 2018. Stansfield, G., Email correspondence with EASO, 11 January 2017. Stars and Stripes, US: Syrian forces nearing ‘striking distance’ of Raqqa, 10 May 2017, https://www.stripes.com/news/us-syrian-forces-nearing-striking-distance-of-raqqa- 1.467748#.WVQH_ulpyUl, accessed 5 January 2018. Tejel, J., Email correspondence with EASO, 10 January 2018. Tejel, J., Syria’s Kurds: History, Politics, and Society, Routledge, 2009, available at: http://www.kurdipedia.org/files/books/2012/74488.PDF, accessed 5 January 2018. VOA (Voice of America), IS fighters expected to evacuate Raqqa, October 15 2017, https://www.voanews.com/a/islamic-state-fighters-expected-evacuate-raqqa/4070596.html, accessed 15 January 2018 Wikimapia, Besta Sûs – Syria, n.d., http://wikimapia.org/27652816/Besta-S%C3%BBs, accessed 5 January 2018. UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees), In Search of Solutions: Addressing Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa, September 2016, available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/InSearchofSolutions- AddressingStatelessnesintheMiddleEastand....pdf, accessed 5 January 2018.

European Asylum Support Office, MTC Block A, Winemakers Wharf, Grand Harbour Valletta, MRS 1917, Malta 7 Tel: +356 22487500, website: www.easo .europa.eu