Ashraf residents have been subjected to severe restrictions for months in terms of access to food, medicine and basic necessities by Baghdad. Patients in the camp are refused access to medical treatment by a committee charged with closing down the camp.
Javad Ahmadi, a veteran doctor in Ashraf’s clinic, told Asharq al-Awsat in a phone interview, “We have patients here that are suffering from cancer, low blood levels or require urgent specialized examination. But, under pressure from the Iranian regime and its embassy in Baghdad, the committee in charge of Ashraf at the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office is denying these patients access to required diagnosis and urgent specialized treatment by resorting to various pretexts.”
Dr. Ahmadi added, “We call on all dignified people in the world to take practical actions to lift this unjust siege. I emphasize that the responsibility for the fate of these patients who have been denied of medical help due to delays in their hospitalization lies with the suppressive committee which has laid a siege on the camp on the orders of the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office.”