Iraq: US troops leaving will expose Iranian refugees in Ashraf

di Alessandro Batazzi

“After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over”. With this statement US President Obama announced on 21 October 2011 that American troops would leave Iraq by 31 December 2011, a decision that will leave 3,400 Iranians in danger. Collaboration between US and Iraq will continue with the training and assistance to Iraq’s security forces. Different polls in the US showed how support for Obama’s decision comes from a majority of the population across the entire political spectrum.

Yet, some Republicans expressed concerns with the decision. Security in the area is still considered fragile and could be maintained only if a small contingent is allowed to remain by the Iraqi government. Objectors to the decision argued that the small force would also serve as a deterrent to Iran, which has been allegedly been supplying weapons and training to Shiite militant groups in Iraq.

What hasn’t been discussed is the fate of the 3,400 Iranian refugees in Camp Ashraf. On 8 April 2011 the Iraqi army raided the camp and attacked the civilians, killing 34 and injuring 318. The international community condemned the attack, defining it a “massacre” on various front.

The Iraqi government has been persecuting the Iranian refugees in an effort to strengthen ties with Iran, as the refugees represent opposition groups to the Ayatollah’s regime.

Some of the refugees are part of a group considered by the US and Iraq as a terrorist organization, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK). Following the attack, Democratic Governor of Vermont Howard Dean stated that the MEK have been taken off terrorist list by the European Union and that there is no justification in keeping them on it in the US. In an interview to MSNBC he said: “We promised them that we would support them if they disarmed. They disarmed … American troops left the camp and [the Iraqi army] gunned down people”.

Furthermore, the MEK are not the only group in Camp Ashraf. Members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCR-Iran) are present as well, and have been supported for over 200 days by protesters in front of Palais des Nations, the UN Office in Geneva.

The US promised the refugees support and if left alone there are high chances of a humanitarian catastrophe hitting them. Regardless of the controversies surrounding the war in Iraq, the US owes the Iranian refugee protection.