As the US prepares to withdraw its troops from Iraq, there are 3,400 Iranian refugees living in Camp Ashraf who are in danger of being killed. Iraqi troops and Iranian secret police constantly harass and attack the camp, and earlier this spring a coordinated attack left 36 refugees dead and more than 350 injured. The refugees are constantly bombarded with pro-Iranian government slogans, and they are denied medical care. Despite speeches of support from UK and EU parliamentary humanitarian committees, no one has been able to take responsibility for solving the humanitarian crisis.
On Tuesday morning, Westminster will host a cross-parliamentary Committee meeting to discuss what to do in light of credible threats of another planned assault on Camp Ashraf. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has ordered the camp closed by 31 December, in violation of international law. President in exile Madame Rajavi has said any bloodshed caused or witnessed by the Al Maliki government is the direct responsibility of the US and UN. The story has barely been covered by the mainstream media. It appears on page A27, below the fold.
Despite ongoing attempts to find common ground, a growing sense of despair has taken hold. Meanwhile, the passage of time only exacerbates a story that many journalists remain hesitant to cover. This is due to the fact that the US continues to classify the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) as a terrorist organization. This designation dates back to the 1990s and has been widely criticized as unfounded from the outset. It was initially introduced by the Clinton administration as a means of normalizing relations with Iran, which at the time was perceived to have elected a more moderate leader.
In 2003, the United Kingdom and the European Union labelled the Iranian government as a “terrorist state”. This designation has since been reversed, yet it has been used to justify overlooking the ongoing crisis in Iran and to accuse those who express support for the country of being “soft on terrorism”. This designation came at a time when the Iranian government had commenced a clandestine nuclear programme.
Despite the backing of prominent figures such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former US Homeland Security head Tom Ridge, former Democratic Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, and many other international, Congressional and Parliamentary leaders, the crisis in Iran persists. Nevertheless, the world has remained largely preoccupied with other matters such as the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the Eurozone financial crisis, tensions between England and France, and the question of whether troubled actress Lindsay Lohan will attend her court-mandated community service on Monday.
It’s time for people to move from Camp Ashraf, but the landscape is filled with obstacles:
Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is clearly in bed with NCRI’s Iranian government tormentors (the price of a very shaky internal peace between Sunni and Shia Muslims).
Iraq does not want the responsibility or cost of maintaining the 25-year-old camp.
The Iranian regime wants this opposition group of former fighters eliminated.
The UN continues to drag its feet, and peacekeepers should already be on the ground dismantling loudspeakers and protecting the camp.
The US government sees their military exit as the Iraqi government’s issue, and they have closed the book on the issue.
The EU and UK Parliaments have held meetings, but they are unlikely to do anything other than issue proclamations to help the people of Camp Ashraf.
We’re not talking about Eagle Scouts on any side of this discussion. Everyone has their horse in this race, but there is one agenda missing from the discussion: the agenda of those without a voice, the real 99%, the people of Camp Ashraf. So the clock ticks down to zero. The NCRI warns of a Srebrenica-style massacre if the world does nothing but wag its jaws.
This is a collective failure of will.
The Syrian people have not received help or protection from Basheer, a sadist. Now the worry is that 3,400 people in the Iraqi desert will also be let down because no matter how hard they try, their voices are constantly lost in a sea of “more important” news.
