28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State

Prisoners of war - exchange with Iraq continued ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29525],  [ID 9569]

"[...]During 2003, the Government continued to exchange with Iraq prisoners of war (POWs) and the remains of deceased fighters from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. In March 2003, the Government said it released 888 Iraqi POWs in exchange for 351 Iranian prisoners that the Government claimed were not POWs, but religious pilgrims, university students, tour guides, farmers and villagers from the border regions, and border guards). In April and August, the Government claimed that it held no more Iraqi POWs. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

25.02.2004 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

1,200 people – among them Iranians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis and Sudanese – have spent the past 10 months in the no man's land between Jordan and Iraq ("Hundreds of lost souls still in no man's land") [#19659],  [ID 9570]

Document(s): Open document

08.07.2003 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

At least 405 Iranians fled Al Tash refugee camp because of the deteriorating situation in the facility caught between the Coalition and well-armed Iraqi gunmen reportedly loyal to the old government ("Iranian refugees flee Al Tash camp") [#14219],  [ID 9571]

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2003 - Source: ReliefWeb

180 Iranian refugees returned home in the first repatriation from Iraq in nearly a year ("UNHCR briefing notes: West Africa, Colombia, Iran (UNHCR)") [#12960],  [ID 9572]

Document(s): Open document

09.05.2003 - Source: ReliefWeb

Growing eviction of Palestinian and Iranian refugees from their homes in Baghdad, reported ("Iraq: UN agencies concerned at potential cholera epidemic, Palestinian evictions (UN News Service)") [#12653],  [ID 9573]

Document(s): Open document

06.2002 - Source: US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

US Committee for Refugees: Iranian Refugees in government-controlled Iraq and in Northern Iraq ("World Refugee Survey 2002") [#7405],  [ID 9574]

"Iranian Refugees in Government-Controlled Iraq

Some 19,000 Iranian refugees resided in government-controlled Iraq in 2001. Most of the Iranians (12,150) lived in the Al-Tash camp in western Iraq, about 70 miles (110 km) from Baghdad.

UNHCR reported that the governments of Iran and Iraq signed a bilateral voluntary repatriation agreement in 2001, paving the way for the return of Iranian refugees in Iraq. Although no Iranian refugees repatriated during the year, several thousand reportedly expressed their wish to UNHCR to repatriate and were expected to do so in 2002.

During the year, UNHCR assisted in the resettlement of refugees from government-controlled Iraq, focusing on refugees in the Al-Tash camp. During the year, 646 refugees, mostly Iranians, were resettled in Sweden, Finland, Canada, and New Zealand.

In Al-Tash, described as a slum, refugees were not permitted to work, and their movement was restricted. All of the refugees at Al-Tash are Iranians and most are Kurds, although the camp also includes a mix of Persians and Arabs from Ahwaz Province. While the great majority of camp residents are Sunni Muslim, more than 1,000 camp residents belong to the Ahl-e-Haq religious minority. Another 7,000 Iranian Ahwazi refugees who fled southern Iran during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s lived in Misan, Kumeit, and Basra Governorates in southern Iraq.

Iranian Refugees in Northern Iraq

About 4,700 Iranian Kurdish refugees resided in northern Iraq in 2001. The majority were believed to be ex-peshmergas (guerrillas) of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran.

Conditions in northern Iraq remained uncertain for Iranian refugees in 2001. Although no killings were reported during the year, unknown assailants have assassinated about 300 Iranians in recent years prior to 2001. The refugees claim that agents of the Iranian regime in northern Iraq are responsible for the killings.

Resettlement from northern Iraq remained limited in 2001. UNHCR assisted in the resettlement of 107 Iranian refugees from northern Iraq during the year, a marked decline from the 632 Iranian refugees resettled from northern Iraq in 1999, but slightly more than the 41 resettled in 2000. In 1999, the Iraqi government announced that it did not regard Iranians in northern Iraq as refugees and called upon UNHCR to suspend resettlement. Difficulties in obtaining exit clearances for Iranians in northern Iraq has accounted, in part, for the drop in resettlement during the past two years.

Because of poor security and the lack of resettlement opportunities for Iranian refugees in northern Iraq, between 800 and 900 left for Turkey in 2000 and 2001, where they applied for refugee status with UNHCR in the hope of resettling to third countries."

Document(s): 02295mde.pdf
Open document

04.2000 - Source: Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Over 3,000 Iranian refugees in two refugee camps ("Official general report on Northern Iraq") [#5394],  [ID 9575]

"The over 3 000 Iranian refugees are for the most part in two camps: members and supporters of the
KDPi and their family members are in Koj Sanjaq, and there is a Komallah camp in the vicinity of
Sulaymaniyah. 238 239 The UNHCR is trying to resettle recognised refugees from these camps as a
matter of priority, which in practice should be managed fairly successfully."

Document(s): neth-nirq0400.pdf