Camp Liberty- No. 59
Annual report of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), which appeared on its website on November 19, wrote about Liberty residents under ‘Main objectives and targets for 2013’: “Resettlement is sought for 1,500 Camp New Iraq residents for whom other solutions cannot be found”. Thereby, UNHCR stipulates that in the best case, by the end of 2013, i.e. two years after residents’ settlement in Liberty, less than half of them would be transferred to third countries.
Fifteen months after all residents have submitted their individual applications for asylum to the High Commissioner, and more than 9 months after the settlement of the first group at Liberty, only five people have been taken abroad by the UNHCR. During the same period, several dozens of residents have also gone to third countries by the efforts and expenses of residents, their representatives and families.
Therefore, although resettlement of 1500 residents by the end of 2013 does not seem to be realistic, even if it happens to be true, more than half of the residents have to stay at Camp Liberty by the end of 2014 or longer (i.e. for three years or more); whilst Liberty was named as ‘Temporary Transitional Location” due to insistence of the Iraqi government and UNSG special representative which applies to a camp where is a several-day or several-week passage for transferring refugees to third countries.
As the Iranian Resistance has announced time and again, TTL is a fraudulent title in line with the Iranian regime’s intentions and violation of fundamental rights of Liberty residents who are asylum seekers and people of concern and protected persons under Fourth Geneva Convention.
With its strongest protest against the unrealistic title of TTL for Liberty which only justifies the siege and repressive measures carried out by the clerical regime and its puppet government in Iraq, the Iranian Resistance calls on the UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to immediately recognize Liberty as a refugee camp and no let the rights of Iranian dissidents and refugees be trampled anymore in favor of the religious fascism ruling Iran.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 20, 2012