NCRI – Eleven members of the Iraqi Parliament have sent a letter to the UN Secretary General, expressing concern about the tightening of a siege on Ashraf City, home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). They urged Ban Ki-Moon to personally intervene in the matter to ensure the protection and safety of Ashraf residents.
“We consider your personal interference in the matter in the context of the principle of RtoP [Responsibility to Protect] as a determining factor for the upholding of international guarantees respecting these residents’ rights,” said the Iraqi MPs from various parliamentary groups.
NCRI – Eleven members of the Iraqi Parliament have sent a letter to the UN Secretary General, expressing concern about the tightening of a siege on Ashraf City, home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). They urged Ban Ki-Moon to personally intervene in the matter to ensure the protection and safety of Ashraf residents.
“We consider your personal interference in the matter in the context of the principle of RtoP [Responsibility to Protect] as a determining factor for the upholding of international guarantees respecting these residents’ rights,” said the Iraqi MPs from various parliamentary groups.
Text of the letter of the Iraqi MPs to the UN Secretary General follows:
Your Excellency, Ban Ki-Moon,
Secretary General of the United Nations
We, members of the Iraqi Parliament, would like to bring to your attention to an urgent humanitarian issue in our country, which has received international spotlight.
As you are well aware, it has been several months now since the 3,500 members of the Iranian opposition residing in Camp Ashraf, located in Iraq’s Diyala province, have come under an intense siege.
An extensive human rights front has shaped in various countries of the world to end the ongoing siege. The latest worrying trend in this regard involves units of the Iraqi police, which on May 28 suddenly and unexpectedly went to Ashraf with the intention of entering it. This move faced protests from the refugees residing in this camp, because for months now they have been cooperating with the Iraqi government in order to carry out its demands.
For example, they cooperated with the Iraqi government’s Human Rights Ministry, which had asked for and was able to conduct private interviews with the residents to become apprised of their decision to either stay or leave Iraq. 99.7% of the residents explicitly stressed on their wish to continue their stay in Ashraf. Ashraf is an unarmed region and this was proven after a complete inspection of the camp was conducted by the Iraqi Interior Ministry in April.
Therefore, we, members of Parliament, strongly believe that there is no reason to use force in a region where peaceful people reside. We call on the Iraqi government to refrain from creating any tensions or crises and to comply with articles stipulated in the European Parliament resolution dedicated to the situation of Ashraf residents, which represents the rational and humane solution to this case.
Your Excellency has always sought the guaranteeing of protection and safety of refugees under any circumstance. We consider your personal interference in the matter in the context of the principle of RtoP [Responsibility to Protect] as a determining factor for the upholding of international guarantees respecting these residents’ rights.
