"The Iraqi government has also screened every one of those people in Ashraf in April. Each one of them was interviewed outside Camp Ashraf. They were encouraged and pushed to leave the camp or go to Iran. Only 6 of them accepted to leave, 6 out of 3,400 people. So we have to accept their decision."
"The Iraqi government has also screened every one of those people in Ashraf in April. Each one of them was interviewed outside Camp Ashraf. They were encouraged and pushed to leave the camp or go to Iran. Only 6 of them accepted to leave, 6 out of 3,400 people. So we have to accept their decision."
NCRI – The following is the text of speech by Mr. Erik Meijers, MEP from the Netherlands, in the plenary session of the European Parliament on 24 April 2009 which adopted the resolution titled “Humanitarian Situation of Camp Ashraf Residents,” by 284 against 42:
During past 30 years Iran has been ruled by a theocratic dictatorship. That dictatorship not only enforces its inhabitants to live in conformity with its religious standards but it tries also to kill everyone who does not to behave conformed to its system. The consequences are that many Iranians have to live in exile not only in Europe but also in the neighboring countries.
After the Anglo-American military invasion of Iraq the Iranians who lived there in exile, got the guarantee to be protected against Iran. Now the foreign troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq. I support this withdrawal, but an enforcing consequence can be that the theocratic regime in Iran gets an opportunity to attack the opposition outside its own borders. Strive for deportation of those people to Iran in order to kill them.
Inside Iraq exists much solidarity with the Iranians in exile. However the power of Iran in Iraq has grown because also in Iraq the majority of its inhabitants are Shiite Muslims.
In a written question to the council I have asked attention for the position of 3400 people living in Ashraf Camp. The only answer was that the council had not discussed this matter.
Today we discuss a very important and urgent resolution on Ashraf Camp. In two previous resolutions in 2007 and 2008, our parliament confirmed the legal status of the Ashraf inhabitants under the Fourth Geneva Conventions. Today our parliament is paying special attention to the actual situation by adopting a resolution only on Ashraf.
This text is a joint text adopted by most political groups and it is balanced. It wants to send a strong message to the Iraqi government that the rights of these 3,400 people in Ashraf, including about 1,000 women, cannot be violated because of the pressures of the mullahs in Iran.
So we must send a united message without amendments which will undermine and weaken this resolution. This motion only covers humanitarian issues of Ashraf residents. We have to avoid the changes to the final text of the resolution, which complicate the situation and endanger the lives of those defenseless people.
The inhabitants of Ashraf were bombed by US forces at the beginning of the invasion in 2003. Later on they were screened by the US. The Iraqi government has also screened every one of those people in Ashraf in April. Each one of them was interviewed outside Ashraf. They were encouraged and pushed to leave the camp or go to Iran. Only 6 of them accepted to leave, 6 out of 3,400 people. So we have to accept their decision.
Editor’s note: Ashraf City (Camp Ashraf), north of Baghdad in Iraq, is home to approximately 3,500 residents who are members of the main Iranian democratic opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).