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Iraq: Follow-up to IRQ36288.E of 22 March 2001 on the situation in the Kurdish enclave in Northern Iraq

The following information was provided during a telephone interview on 23 May 2001 with the director of the Centre européen de l'étude des conflits which is based in Paris. The director is also an editor of a book entitled Puissances et influences. Annuaire géopolitique et géostratégique 2000-2001, published in 2000. The director was invited to visit northern Iraq for four weeks in April 2001 by Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). He went on a personal basis and was able to visit the northern and the southern parts of the enclave.

The North of the Kurdish Iraqi enclave is under the control of Massoud Barzani while Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) governs the South. The security of the enclave is ensured by American and British bombings in Iraq, and the enclave receives 13 per cent of the money allocated within the program "oil-for-food," which gives the region some prosperity.

According to NGOs and UN organizations which have been established in the area for three years, the general situation has improved a lot since armed conflict between the KDP and the PUK ended in 1997. The region is witnessing an economic boom. One can see important construction taking place, for example housing is being built.

The Washington peace accords signed by both parties are respected and some 60 meetings have been held in order to solve remaining disagreements between the PDK and the PUK. By the end of 2002 or in 2003, it is expected that one parliament will exist in an autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, which will continue to be within Iraq.

Earlier in 2001, François Harrari, a member of the KDP was killed reportedly by an Islamist group. The Islamists control the city of Halabja in the enclave but they do not represent a threat to the security of the area. They have an indirect influence, for instance, women wear darker clothes than those in other Kurdish areas.

Turkey has made numerous incursions in the area in order to fight members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). As a result, the PKK has moved from the North of the enclave to the South, along the Iranian border.

Despite the improvements in the enclave, it has became more difficult for Kurdish people in the area to remain politically neutral.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Reference

Director of Centre européen de l'étude des conflits, Paris. 23 May 2001. Telephone interview.

Topics: Kurd,