The UN-recognised Makhmour (Mexmûr) refugee camp, which is located near Iraq’s Mosul and built by Kurdish refugees in the 1990s, is facing renewed threats as the Iraqi army attempts to surround it with wire fences and trenches.
The present crisis marks the most severe threat since the ISIS assault against the Makhmour region, which is home to 12,000 Kurdish refugees, representatives say. Heavy weapons have been deployed, and UN mediation has failed to resolve the situation. Medya News spoke to Jameel Abdulkarim Omar, a spokesperson for the camp’s Foreign Relations Committee, to hear the latest situation from the camp.
What are the reasons behind the Iraqi army’s efforts to surround Makhmour?
For the past seven days, the Iraqi government has been trying to assert control the camp. We are in a [double bind], because the camp is already under the control of the Iraqi federal government, who in turn are trying to do what the Turkish Government wants. They claim the camp is linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK], but in reality this only an excuse for the Turkish government to justify their accusations against the camp.
Thus the Iraqi forces are trying to besiege the camp. The people of the camp have refused this, because we have been living here for more than 20 years. We have never done anything wrong, we obey the law of the Iraqi government, and we have good relations with both Kurds and Arabs in the neighbouring territories, We haven’t done anything wrong toward either the security forces or Iraqi government. This is only occurring at Turkey’s wish.
Why are these efforts to control the camp happening now, in particular?
We know there is an agreement between Turkey and the Iraqi government. Turkey threatened Iraq, saying it will turn off the water flow to the Euphrates and Tigris. When we met with the Iraqi government, they told us that that is Turkey’s demand: they said, ‘you have to control the camp or we will stop the water flow.’ This is why the Iraqi forces have brought heavy weapons, armour, and military vehicles. As if there is a military base here against them, which they need to control. But as we know, there are only refugees living here – more than 12,000 people. There was no need to bring so many soldiers.
The UN visited the camp recently. What was the outcome of these negotiations?
The UN came to the camp two days ago. We had a meeting together. Before ISIS attacked these regions and exerted control over Mosul, the UN left Makhmour camp. As did the [Iraqi Kurdish] Peshmerga and Iraqi government. They left us alone here. The UN have the same policy as the Iraqi Government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). If you ask me, these were [effectively] representatives of Iraq and KRG, not UN representatives, because in theory the UN should care about refugees. But they do not care about us, they just act according to the [regional] authorities.
How serious are the present round of threats?
We are currently in the worst situation since ISIS attacked, facing the biggest danger since then. Since then, more than ten Turkish airstrikes have hit the camp. And yet neither Iraqi government, nor KRG, nor the UN condemned these attacks. They say nothing about this. The Iraqi government approaches this place as though there is a danger from the PKK, but the real danger is from Turkish airstrikes. They should put and end to this. If they care about us, they should protect us from Turkish airstrikes. We haven’t got enough electricity, there’s a shortage of water, and it’s been nearly 10 years since we last saw a representative from the UN. They told us the Iraqi government has no authority over the camp, which is why they don’t visit, but there has been an Iraqi government base here for several years.
