Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: IRN17535 Country: Iran Date: 29 September 2005

Keywords: Iran – Iraqi Kurds – Citizenship

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Question

1. Please provide information on the situation of Iraqi Kurds in Iran.

RESPONSE

1. Please provide information on the situation of Iraqi Kurds in Iran.

Sources cited below suggest there are between 80,000 and 100,000 Iraqi refugees and migrants currently living in Iran. They comprise of Shiite Arabs, Faili Kurds and Sunni Kurds. The majority of Iraqi refugees live in towns and villages rather than camps with Kurdish refugees scattered between the northwestern provinces of Kermanshah Kordestan and West Azerbaijan. Limited information on the situation of Iraqi Kurds in Iran was found amongst the sources consulted. Most information referred in general terms to “Iraqis”, “Iraqi refugees”, “Iraqi exiles” or “Iraqi migrants”. Registered Iraqis in Iran have access to health and education although there are legal barriers to employment. Undocumented Iraqis are in danger of deportation. Iran is currently investigating ways and means of repatriating Iraqis.

A significant number of Iraqi refugees and migrants currently live in Iraq. News reports vary as to the exact number.

• “Regarding Iraqi refugees, as of January 2005, the estimated number of registered Iraqi refugees was about 80,000” (‘UNHCR supports Iran in its refugee hosting bid’ 2005, Islamic Republic News Agency, 20 June – Attachment 1); • “Iran – Refugees and Asylum Seekers…Iraq: 93,200” (US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants 2005, World Refugee Survey 2005 – Iran, 16 June – Attachment 2); • “An estimated 95,000 Iraqi refugees remain in Iran” (‘UN Refugee Agency Closes Camps in Iran as Iraqi Exiles Return Home’ 2004, UN News Service, 14 December – Attachment 3); and • “According to the report [released by the Iranian Interior Ministry’s Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA)], the latest figure of Iraqi migrants residing in Iran was put at 100,000” (‘Iran, Iraq examine repatriation of Iraqi migrants’ 2005, Islamic Republic News Agency, 16 July http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu- 234/0507161178194217.htm – Accessed 28 September 2005 – Attachment 4).

An article dated 17 July 2005 by the Islamic Republic News Agency reports that the Iraqi Migration and Displacement Minister and the Director General of BAFIA met to discuss the “issue of Iraqi migrants in Iran and ways of their repatriation”:

A report released by the Interior Ministry’s BAFIA said that during the meeting, the difficulties facing Iraqi migrants residing in Iran such as the procedure of their arrival in and departure from the country, issuing of certificates of birth, marriage and residence for them were discussed and the necessary agreements were reached to the effect (‘Iran, Iraq examine repatriation of Iraqi migrants’ 2005, Islamic Republic News Agency, 16 July http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0507161178194217.htm – Accessed 28 September 2005 – Attachment 4).

An article dated 20 June 2005 by the Islamic Republic News Agency reports that Iran has a “very generous asylum policy”:

As for the current situation of refugees in Iran, Bronee [UNHCR Representative to Tehran] said most of the refugees in Iran are settled in urban areas and the rest in few camps.

Sixty percent of the refugee community has been in Iran since 15 years and many of the children are born in Iran, said Bronee, adding therefore, they feel very much part of the Iranian culture and looking for allowance to settle amongst Iranian communities.

Camps are mainly run by the Government’s support and some self-management projects are being introduced to enable the refugees to be self-sufficient.

…There has been very little direct assistance from UNHCR to the Afghan and Iraqi refugees who have settled locally in Iranian towns and among Iranian communities.

Thanks to a very generous asylum policy, read the handout, it has been possible for these refugees to find areas of employment which have enabled them to earn a basic income to support their families.

The press release said in 2005, UNHCR will continue working with the governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan with a regional perspective to facilitate voluntary repatriation within the legal frameworks provided by Tripartite agreements (‘UNHCR supports Iran in its refugee hosting bid’ 2005, Islamic Republic News Agency, 20 June – Attachment 1).

The World Refugee Survey 2005 by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants provides the following information on Iraqi refugees in Iran:

Iran honored UNHCR’s advisory for Iraqi refugees, which specified that conditions in Iraq were not conducive to mass returns.

…Iran passed regulations in February that increased fines for employers of Afghans without work permits and imposed new restrictions making it difficult for Afghans to obtain mortgages, rent or own property, and open bank accounts. Iranian econo- mists warned that the repatriation of Afghans could cost the country a vital part of its workforce. Iran did not impose the same restrictions on Iraqi refugees.

The 1963 Regulations allowed recognized refugees “employment in the fields authorized for foreign nationals and those fields deemed appropriate.” The Labor Law authorized the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to issue, extend, and renew work permits to refugees, subject to the written agreements of the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs. Most refugees worked in the informal sector. Refugees did not enjoy the legal labor protections of nationals, but DSCs [Dispute Settlement Committees] sometimes mediated non-payment of salaries.

The 1963 Regulations provided refugees the right to the “acquisition of movable and immovable properties” generally on par with foreigners (US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants 2005, World Refugee Survey 2005 – Iran, 16 June – Attachment 2).

An article dated 14 December 2004 by The UN News Service reports that the UNHCR is closing several camps in Iran as Iraqi refugees return home:

Some 107,000 refugees have returned to Iraq from Iran since the end of Saddam Hussein’s rule last year, many after more than two decades in exile.

…Amongst refugees staying in camps, the rate of departure has been extremely high, with over 80 per cent choosing to repatriate. This has led to a sharp fall in the number in Iranian camps to 8,000 from 50,000.

Six out of the 22 camps in Iran are now empty and another two are expected to be closed by the end of the year. Many of the remaining 14 camps are already nearly empty (‘UN Refugee Agency Closes Camps in Iran as Iraqi Exiles Return Home’ 2004, UN News Service, 14 December – Attachment 3).

An article by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting dated 1 September 2004 reports that Iraqi refugees living in Iran “face legal barriers to working and living a normal life”:

In addition to the Badr Brigade, some have found work as street vendors. Others teach Arabic or run small businesses registered in the names of Iranian partners.

…Some of the worst-off Iraqis are refugees deported under a campaign the Iraqi government conducted that deprived away Iraqi Shia of Iranian ancestry of their citizenship and property. Unlike more recent arrivals such as prisoners-of-war or refugees, these people do not have the option of joining the Badr Brigade – which at least offers accommodation, a small salary, and services such as healthcare.

… Iranian officials say it is hard enough for their own citizens to find jobs, let alone the hundreds of thousands of refugees in their midst (Ali, Hussein 2004, ‘Left Behind in Iran’, IWPR’S Iraqi Crisis Report No. 81, 1 September – Attachment 5).

According to the UNHCR Islamic Republic of Iran 2005 Country Operations Plan, Iran has a “very generous asylum policy”:

In spite of the size of the refugee population in Iran, the Government and people of Iran has maintained a very generous asylum policy throughout the past 25 years. Afghans and Iraqis have had access to education and health facilities and have also been able to benefit from a subsidised economy and opportunities to find employment, which although not permitted, has been tolerated (UNHCR 2004, ‘Executive Committee Summary’, Islamic Republic of Iran 2005 Country Operations Plan, March – Attachment 6).

An article dated 27 May 2003 by Agence France Presse reports that “Iran has decided to strip hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans in the country of their refugee status”:

Ahmad Hosseini, the interior ministry’s director of refugee affairs, told reporters that Afghans and Iraqis who sought refuge in the Islamic republic would now be classed as migrants in the wake of the conflicts in their home countries.

“Therefore the Iranian government has the right to expel them,” he warned. (‘Iraqis, Afghans in Iran stripped of refugee status’ 2003, Agence France-Presse, 27 May, ReliefWeb website http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-64DCEC?OpenDocument&cc=irn – Accessed 29 September 2005 – Attachment 7).

A Human Rights Watch briefing paper dated February 2003 provides the following information on Iraqi refugees in Iran. The report notes that Iran has “traditionally been the most tolerant of their presence”:

Iran

Unlike most of the other countries neighboring Iraq, such as Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Iran is party to the Refugee Convention. A government-run census in 2001 revealed that Iran hosted more refugees than any other government in the world: 2.56 million, of whom 2,355,000 were Afghans and 203,000 were Iraqis. This number likely excludes hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who were deported by Iraq to Iran during the 1980s, and refugees living in Iranian towns and cities without registering with UNHCR. …The government of Iran has grown increasingly disenchanted over the years about hosting such a large refugee population in the face of minimal international interest, financial support, or burden sharing.

…Contrary to the government’s current preference for housing new refugees in camps, the vast majority of Iraqis in Iran live in urban areas: mostly in Shiraz, in the south, and in Qom, in central Iran. The preference for camps often makes refugees in cities (both new arrivals and those who have lived there for many years) extremely vulnerable to police abuse and discriminatory treatment. In fact, some policies curtailing refugees’ rights are already in place in Iran. In June 2001, restrictions on refugees’ access to employment were tightened even further, so that all refugees except those with old work permits were classed as illegal workers and thereby subject to expulsion under a law known as Article 48. A new policy of fining and imprisoning the employers of undocumented workers was also introduced. Many refugees were instantly fired from their jobs, and thereby also lost their homes and all entitlement to medical care. They had absolutely no access to state social security or any other safety net. Although it was decreed that even undocumented children would be permitted to attend school, many local authorities continued to deny refugee children entrance to public schools and forcibly closed down those organized by refugees themselves. In short, many Iraqi refugees were systemically denied the means to subsist in Iran by Iranian law.

In 2001 the government of Iran undertook a costly and logistically complex registration exercise with the assistance of UNHCR, during which millions of refugees obtained a “registration slip” recognizing their status as refugees in Iran. At the time of writing, it was doubtful whether potential new arrivals to Iran would have access to similar documentation (Human Rights Watch 2003, Iraqi Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Displaced Persons: Current Conditions and Concerns in the Event of War, February, pp. 12-14 – Attachment 8).

An Alliance Internationale pour la Justice and International Federation for Human Rights report dated January 2003 provides the following information on Iraqi refugees in Iran:

Iraqi refugees in Iran live in camps managed by the Iranian authorities or they are scattered in towns and villages. Estimations say that there are approximately 50,000 refugees living in the 14 camps managed by the Ministry of Interior, 6 of which are located in Khuzistan. Some of the bigger camps such as the Ashrafi Asfahani camp, which was created to host 7,000 persons but whose population in reality is closer to 13,000, or the camp of Ansar which normally hosts 3,500 people, are estimated to host a total of 20,000 persons. There also exist about 10 other camps hosting less than 3,000 persons each.

The mission was able to visit the latter camp, as well as to go to the cities of Teheran and Qom in order to meet refugees. Other Iraqis are said to have grouped themselves alongside several roads, building settlement locations which are not registered as camps and which, as a result, do not receive aid. This is also said to be the case in towns and in most villages. According to the interviewees, it is those refugees who are not in the camps that need help the most, especially in Khuzistan where there is said to be 44 resettlement locations in the area between Ahwaz, Susangerd and Hoveyzeh, such as Serâi- Khorramshahr (16,000 refugees) Nabi Akra and Qand-o- Chekar. These refugees do not receive any aid from the government or international agencies and have to provide for their own needs, at a time when the legislation related to the work of refugees has toughened in Iran.

The people from the marshlands of southern Iraq seem to have grouped together in villages and in the camps, along with people who fled after the second Gulf War. Most of the refugees live outside the camps (80% according to the interviewees). Most of the arrived in the 1980s, but also after 1991m as the mission could note.

The people met by the mission were Fayli Kurds or Shiite Arabs from southern Iraq or from Baghdad.

The Iraqis who were interviewed live in particularly difficult conditions. In the camps, which are controlled by the Iranian authorities, they are not allowed to come and go without prior authorisation and they are not allowed to work. The mission could also take note of cases of malnutrition among children and of the extreme poverty of the populations. Information received after the mission mention the deterioration of the situation, in particular concerning water supply in some camps.

In the cities, where refugees have more freedom of movement, their economic situation remains precarious as the green card issued to refugees who are officially registered does not theoretically give them the right to exercise any professional activity.

…Part of the deported Fayli, even though they have been living for generations in Iraq or in the territories attached to the modern Iraqi state in 1921 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, have never received any identification papers from the Iraqi regime. Some had the Iranian “nationality” for generations and were thus granted with the same rights as Iranians in Iran. However it is difficult for them to be employed in official positions in certain administrations.

But for a lot of other refugees, rehabilitation is impossible in Iran. Since they receive little aid, especially when they live in cities, they are all candidates for exile to a third country. Some refugees in the camps complained about being pressured and not receiving enough food. None expressed the will to return to Iraq, stressing the fact that their life and that of their family would be at risk there.

…According to some of the people we met, the refugees were better treated before the second Gulf War, because there were more opportunities for them to work. Since September 2001, the registration card delivered during the census only grants the right to stay. The same year, the Iranian authorities adopted a law concerning the 5-year plan for development in which, according to article 48, the employment of a foreigner without a work permit is prohibited and punishable with heavy fines and a six-month prison sentence.

Refugees are concerned for their children. Among the young Iraqis who fled, many have been tortured and were forced to give up their studies after pressure or proscription.

…5.2 Circumstances of the exodus of refugees

According to the Iraqi human rights organisations that were met on location, the large majority of refugees in Iran is composed of Fayli Kurds, of opponents to the regime or relatives of opponents, and people, mostly Shiites, who fled after the 1991 uprising, and people from the marshlands of southern Iraq (Alliance Internationale pour la Justice & International Federation for Human Rights 2003, Iraq: Continuous and Silent Cleansing – Displaced Persons in Iraqi Kurdistan and Refugees in Iran, January, pp.24-25 – Attachment 9).

A 2003 factsheet on the refugee situation in Iran by the International Consortium for Refugees in Iran reports that Iraqi Kurdish refugees in Iran are “scattered between the northwestern provinces of Kermanshah Kordestan and West Azerbaijan”:

Kurdish refugees are scattered between the northwestern provinces of Kermanshah Kordestan and West Azerbaijan. Kermanshah has a mixed population of both Iraqi Kurds and Arabs. From the limited information we have on this group, there is a great variation in the situation of individual families. Those who have been in Iran longer are relatively better off than the newer arrivals. Many in this group associated strongly with Iranians and aspire to gain citizenship. There is a small group of Turkish speaking Kurds who face a particular problem, as they speak neither Kurdish nor Farsi (International Consortium for Refugees in Iran 2003, Overview of the Refugee Situation Factsheet http://www.icri-ir.com/factsheet.htm – Accessed 26 September 2005 – Attachment 10).

An Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada response dated 22 August 2001 provides information on the various types of documents issued to refugees in Iran including refugee booklets, permanent cards, temporary cards, laissez-passer, leave permits and joint programme certificate. The response also provides the following information on Iraqi refugees in Iran:

On 25 July 2001 a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ottawa stated the following, in a letter to the Research Directorate:

Most refugees in Iran (particularly Iraqis and Afghans) are considered as foreigners without any specific rights linked to their condition as refugees. Their freedom of movement is restricted; they are not able to obtain travel documents enabling them to travel to and from the country; they are required to obtain work permits but usually are not able to get them because the policy governing this matter is very restrictive.

…The Government of Iran considers all undocumented refugees and asylum-seekers as illegal deportable aliens who do not have a right to any form of refugee protection.

Therefore, undocumented Iraqis are regularly in danger of being deported to their country of origin, despite the continuous objection of the UNHCR. Many such persons have been deported although, in comparison with the Afghan refugees, deportation of Iraqi refugees is relatively less frequent largely because Iraqis are fewer in number in Iran than Afghans, are not as conspicuously present in the labour market as Afghans, and many Iraqis live in the south of Iran, where thy blend in more easily with Arabic-speaking Iranians. Others live in provinces such as Qom where many Arabs are studying in Islamic seminaries, and where Iraqis are less conspicuous among the Arab students.

Even a documented Iraqi may be deported, although more rarely. At times the government of Iran may object to the presence of an Iraqi refugee on grounds of public interest or public order, and such a person may be removed. In cases such as this, the government informs the UNHCR that the refugee should leave the country. Deportation may be avoided if the UNHCR can resettle the individual elsewhere.

The issue of documentation for refugees and asylum-seekers has come to the forefront again in the context of the implementation of Article 48, and annex of the Iranian Five-Year Development Plan voted in April 2000, which contains subsections whereby the Ministry of the Interior is instructed to take measures to ensure all foreigners without work permits would be collected and returned to their countries of origin. In the same legislation exception is granted to those whose lives may be at risk if returned. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been given the responsibility of determining the presence or absence of threat to life of the persons concerned.

The legislation and future implementation of Article 48 has undoubtedly added to the anxiety of all refugees presently in Iran, whose prospect of a stable life there has considerably diminished. Probably as a result, many refugees (Iraqis and Afghans) who had been living outside of refugee camps and had attained some degree of self-sufficiency have approached the UNHCR to express concern about deteriorating conditions. UNHCR Iran has received many reports from refugees whose work permits have been suddenly terminated and who were forcibly released from their long-held jobs (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2001, IRN37744.E – Iran: conditions of refugees in Iran; documents issued to refugees in Iran (follow-up to IRN36964.E of 22 May 2001), 22 August – Attachment 11).

An Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada response dated 22 May 2001 provides the following information on Iraqi refugees in Iran.

On 2 April 2001 a representative of the UNHCR in Ottawa stated the following:

…Iran acceded to the 1950 Convention and its 1967 Protocol in 1976, but maintains reservations to Articles 17 (wage earning employment) and 23 (public relief). Registered refugees in Iran (Afghans, Iraqis and others) for many years received documents which permitted them to reside in Iran, to send their children to school, and, in general, protected them from refoulement. Over recent years, however, the government’s attitude has been reflected in sometimes indiscriminate round-ups and deportations of foreigners (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2001, IRN36964.E – Iran: The kind of status and rights in Iran that would be available to an Iraqi Shiite who fled to Iran in 1994 and lived there until 2000, 22 August – Attachment 12).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Government Information & Reports UK Home Office http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk US Department of State http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk United Nations (UN) UN http://www.un.org/ UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNIAMI) http://www.uniraq.org/ UNHCR http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home Non-Government Organisations Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/ Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/ International Consortium for Refugees in Iran http://www.icri-ir.com/ International Crisis Group http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm Relief Web http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf International News & Politics Aljazeera http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk Institute for War & Peace Reporting http://www.iwpr.net/home_index_new.html Iran Daily http://www.iran-daily.com/1384/2388/html/ Iran Focus http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/ Iraqi Kurdistan Dispatch http://www.ikurd.info/ Islamic Republic News Agency http://www.irna.ir/en/ Kurdish Media http://www.kurdmedia.com/ Kurdistan News http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/index.html Kurdistan World http://www.kurdishdaily.com/ Peyamner News Agency http://www.peyamner.com/index.php?lang=english

Search Engines Google http://www.google.com.au/

UNHCR REFWORLD UNHCR Refugee Information Online

Databases: Public FACTIVA Reuters Business Briefing DIMIA BACIS Country Information REFINFO IRBDC Research Responses (Canada) RRT ISYS RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. RRT Library FIRST RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. ‘UNHCR supports Iran in its refugee hosting bid’ 2005, Islamic Republic News Agency, 20 June.

2. US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants 2005, World Refugee Survey 2005 – Iran, 16 June.

3. ‘UN Refugee Agency Closes Camps in Iran as Iraqi Exiles Return Home’ 2004, UN News Service, 14 December. (CISNET Iran CXCX109889)

4. ‘Iran, Iraq examine repatriation of Iraqi migrants’ 2005, Islamic Republic News Agency, 16 July. (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0507161178194217.htm – Accessed 28 September 2005)

5. Ali, Hussein 2004, ‘Left Behind in Iran’, IWPR’S Iraqi Crisis Report No. 81, 1 September.

6. UNHCR 2004, ‘Executive Committee Summary’, Islamic Republic of Iran 2005 Country Operations Plan, March. (http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi- bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.pdf?tbl=RSDCOI&id=415963d84&page=home – Accessed 27 September 2005)

7. Iraqis, Afghans in Iran stripped of refugee status’ 2003, Agence France-Presse, 27 May, ReliefWeb website. (http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/OCHA- 64DCEC?OpenDocument&cc=irn – Accessed 29 September 2005)

8. Human Rights Watch 2003, Iraqi Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Displaced Persons: Current Conditions and Concerns in the Event of War, February.

9. Alliance Internationale pour la Justice & International Federation for Human Rights 2003, Iraq: Continuous and Silent Cleansing – Displaced Persons in Iraqi Kurdistan and Refugees in Iran, January.

10. International Consortium for Refugees in Iran 2003, Overview of the Refugee Situation Factsheet. (http://www.icri-ir.com/factsheet.htm – Accessed 26 September 2005)

11. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2001, IRN37744.E – Iran: conditions of refugees in Iran; documents issued to refugees in Iran (follow-up to IRN36964.E of 22 May 2001), 22 August.

12. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2001, IRN36964.E – Iran: The kind of status and rights in Iran that would be available to an Iraqi Shiite who fled to Iran in 1994 and lived there until 2000, 22 August.