ŞIRNEX - Saying that the embargo against Mexmûr (Makhmur) Camp is getting deeper and deeper, Mexmur People's Assembly Council Co-Chair Nudem Yaman said: "The gates are not completely closed, but they are trying to make the camp uninhabitable." 

 

Mexmûr Camp, which is located in Mexmûr district of Mosul province of Iraq, is banned to enter and exit the camp after the attack against Turkish consulate and National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) personnel in a restaurant in Hewlêr (Erbil) on 17 July 2019. 

 

12 thousand people, mostly migrants from Şirnex (Şırnak) and Colemêrg (Hakkari), live in the camp, which has been under embargo for more than 6 years, against Turkey's policies of evacuating villages and imposing village guards between 1990s. The camp, where the majority of women and children live, was taken under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) in 1998.

 

As of 10 April, the embargo on the camp has become more severe, and the humanitarian crisis in the region deepens with the non-renewal of the ID cards of the citizens, shortage of medicines, prevention of the entry of construction materials and restrictions on the exit from the camp. 

 

During the embargo imposed by the Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) and the Iraqi government, 10 citizens who went to work outside the camp were detained in Baghdad. The detained youth from Mexmûr have been in detention for 19 days. 

 

'PRACTICES CONTRARY TO HUMANITY'

 

Nudem Yaman reminded that there has been an embargo for a long time and stated that the pressure has increased recently. Nudem Yaman stressed that the arrest of those staying in the camp increased the pressure even more, and said that they were told that there were some procedures to be followed and that there would be no problem if these procedures were followed. 

 

"Despite this, our workers who go to work in the same way and method are detained. These practices are completely against humanity. Young people who go to Baghdad and other cities to work are treated with an accusatory approach and detained, even though they have renewed their identity cards," she said. 

 

Nudem Yaman stated that although not renewing the identity card is a problem originating from the Iraqi government, they are shown as guilty: "These imposed practices continue as part of the embargo on the camp for years." 

 

'PROBLEMS STILL NOT CONCRETELY SOLVED'

 

Nudem Yaman stated that the government has deepened the embargo by not fulfilling its promises to them and said that construction materials were not allowed to enter the camp and that the delegation that went to solve the problem was detained. Nudem Yaman stated that after the delegation was released, the government did not take any concrete steps although it said that it would carry out the construction and added: "Each time an embargo is imposed on the camp with different methods and these methods continue. These detentions, especially against the workers and the people of the camp, create serious negative effects on the camp. We are going through an embargo process in this way."

 

'THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE THE CAMP UNINHABITABLE'

 

Nudem Yaman emphasised that the new academic year will start but their educational needs cannot be met due to the embargo. She concluded: “We face all kinds of difficulties at the entrance and exit of the camp. We have a lot of difficulty especially in the field of health. There are chronic patients and seriously ill people in the camp, but the camp cannot meet their medicine needs. They are trying to make the camp uninhabitable. We know this camp very well. For 30 years, this camp, which has lived organised and survived with its will, will resist these threats and pressures. Our resistance and struggle will continue until the process initiated by Leader Abdullah Ocalan reaches its goal.”

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut