Resolution 1022 (1994) on the Humanitarian Situation and Needs of the Displaced Iraqi Kurdish population

Resolution 1022 (1994)[1] on the Humanitarian Situation and Needs of the Displaced Iraqi Kurdish population THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE, AT ITS 1994 SESSION 1.The vast majority of the some 1,9 million Iraqi Kurds and others, who fled northern Iraq for neighbouring countries in the spring of 1991 during the brutal suppression of their uprising by Saddam Hussein, have returned to the area controlled by the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government. However, at least 63 000 remain outside Iraq's borders and some hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons are unable or unwilling to return to Kurdish areas under Iraqi Government control for fear of victimisation, notwithstanding an official amnesty for returnees. 2.Despite the presence of United Nations Guards and the maintenance by France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, with the co-operation of Turkey, of a "security zone" in a restricted area of northern Iraq and of an "air exclusion zone" above the 36th parallel, security in the region is constantly undermined by terrorist attacks - inspired by the regime of Saddam Hussein - on the population, on relief workers and on humanitarian convoys. Several non-governmental organisations have been forced to halt their assistance activities as a result. 3.This assistance is provided mainly through the United Nations Inter-Agency Humanitarian Assistance Programme in Iraq in application of Security Council Resolution 688 (1991), as agreed with the Iraqi Government in a periodically re-negotiated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The last MOU having expired on 31 March 1993, the current assistance programme, for the period from 1 April 1993 to 31 March 1994, is operating on the basis of tacit renewal. Several non-governmental relief agencies, funded largely by the United States and the European Union, provide assistance to the Kurdish autonomous region from Turkey without the authorisation of the Iraqi Government, whose conditions they consider unacceptable. 4.In addition to providing basic food, fuel and medical supplies through the winter, the main emphasis must now be on consolidating the security of the Iraqi Kurdish region in a stable, autonomous and democratic framework and on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of essential services and infrastructure in order to give its approximately 3,5 million inhabitants the productive capacity to fend for themselves. However, the economy is doubly penalised by the United Nations sanctions on Iraq and by the Iraqi Government's embargo on the Kurdish region. Moreover, relief aid is still inadequate and should be stepped up as a matter of urgency. 5.The Assembly is aware of the critical humanitarian plight of other persecuted minorities in Iraq, including the Turkmen and Assyrians but especially the Marsh Arabs in the south, whose very survival is threatened by the Iraqi Government, thus causing further movements of refugees. 6.Accordingly, the Parliamentary Assembly:

i.recalls Order No. 460 (1991), which remains in effect;

ii.demands that the Government of Iraq immediately and fully comply with all resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, and in particular put an immediate end to:

a.its acts of aggression perpetrated in and on the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region;

b.all harassment and blocking of relief efforts to that region;

c.its embargo on supplies to the region;

d.the genocide of the Marsh Arabs and the destruction of their habitat;

e.the persecution of other minorities in Iraq;

iii.on the member states of the Council of Europe to use their influence with the Security Council of the United Nations with a view to:

a.bringing the United Nations Guards contingent in Iraq up to its original strength of 500 in view of its positive role in protecting relief convoys and in providing the humanitarian organisations and the United Nations with security guidance as well as access to its communications, transport and medical facilities;

b.examining the possibility of:

-exempting the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region from the economic sanctions against Iraq, provided that adequate control can be established over its borders with the rest of Iraq;

-lifting the sanctions against Iraq in consideration of its government's recent agreement to comply with Security Council Resolution 715 and in return for compliance with all relevant United Nations resolutions, respect for the autonomy of the Iraqi Kurdish region, and the halting of the persecution of other minorities;

-deploying the United Nations Guards in southern Iraq and in the Kurdish areas under Iraqi governmental control;

iv.appeals to the Governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, in co-operation with the Government of Turkey:

a.to extend the existing "security zone" in northern Iraq by prohibiting Iraqi forces from entering the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region;

b.to extend the existing northern "air exclusion zone" to below the 35th parallel;

v.recommends that the European Union consider giving greater priority in its aid programme to mine-clearance, training in mine removal and schemes to promote community awareness of the dangers of mines;

vi.appeals to the member states of the United Nations, in particular to the United States of America and to Council of Europe member states, as well as to the European Union, to step up urgently and generously their contributions:

a.to relief and reconstruction efforts on behalf of the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region;

b.for the alleviation of the plight of women and children in particular;

c.in support of the strengthening of the United Nations Guards contingent in Iraq;

vii.requests that the governments of the Council of Europe member states introduce and finance, through the Social Development Fund, projects for the resettlement, training and employment of refugees in the Iraqi Kurdish region, in particular women and children;

viii.demands that the Government of Iran stop forthwith its shelling of Iraqi Kurdistan and foster the return of all Iraqi Kurdish refugees remaining on its territory.



[1]Assembly debate on 27 January 1994 (6th Sitting) (see Doc. 6984, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur: Mr Eisma).
Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1994 (6th Sitting)
Comments:
Assembly debate on 27 January 1994 (6th Sitting) (see Doc. 6984, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur: Mr Eisma). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1994 (6th Sitting).
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