THE NEW LABOUR government's action in forcibly deporting 15 asylum seekers to a war zone was "barbaric" said John McDonnell MP at a public meeting in Parliament on January 11.
He was referring to 15 people who were forcibly removed on 20 November 2005 and sent back to Iraq. The meeting launched a coalition to stop forced deportations of Iraqi and Kurdish asylum seekers.
The meeting was organised by the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) and was hosted and chaired by John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn MP.
There were many suggestions from the floor as to how the campaign should best continue, and support was offered from the Green Party and from the office of Simon Hughes MP as well as by many anti-deportation campaigners.
'No deportations to Iraq - full stop!' said Jeremy Corbyn, summing up the mood of the meeting.
He encouraged those present to continue to work jointly for this objective and promised to raise the matter within the Stop the War Committee. Why a campaign is needed
The British government still intends to deport Iraqi nationals to whom it has refused proOf those deported on 20 November one has since been allowed back into Britain as the Home Office admits he should not have been on the flight.
All were known to be frightened about their future when they returned, but it has not been possible to monitor their fate.
At present the government, with the help of the International Organisation for Migration, is sending large numbers of people back on socalled "voluntary" flights, Though many of them are only going because they have been made destitute and have lost all hope of getting protection here.
Iraq, needless to say, is a dangerous country. The Iraqi people are enduring the US/British occupation, the [email protected] /0208 809 0633 or Dashty Jamal [email protected] 07734-704742. • For UN and human rights reports see www.uniraq.org resistance to that occupation, a rising level of bitter sectarian strife, general lawlessness, daily kidnappings, abductions, and killings by death squads and suicide bombers.
Power and water supplies and medical facilities still do not function properly, many people cannot get sufficient food or food that is fit to eat.
The IMF is pressing for the abolition of the basic food ration. Many places are catastrophically contaminated with uranium as a result of the last two wars.
South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq), to which people are now being returned, is still part of
While not suffering full scale open warfare like much of Iraq, the region is by no means exempt from the problems elsewhere in the country. It is also littered with mines and is still politically dangerous for people who originally fled because of persecution by Kurdish parties or Islamist • For more information or to be listed as a campaign supporter contact Sarah Parker • For a current example of repression of freedom of expression visit www.kurdmedia.com groups.
Kurdistan still has large numbers of displaced persons who do not have permanent homes or jobs or decent living conditions.
The political situation remains unstable and chaotic, and socialists should support those who do not wish to return to this environment. Human rights groups oppose forced returns
Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have opposed forced returns to Iraq. Even Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish Regional Government, has said that people should not be returned against their will.
In late January, the Iraqi Minister of Refugees, Displacement and Migration,
suhayla Abd-Jaafar, said conditions in the country were not safe for Iragi refugees abroad to return.
In August 2005 UN and