July 12, 2010 issue
Seeking a safer home, Iraqi Kurds come to CPT
In northern Iraq, peacemakers try a new kind of accompaniment: standing with Kurdish villages as they face not bombs or bullets, but bureaucracy
By Marius van Hoogstraten Christian Peacemaker TeamsSULEIMANIYA, Iraqi Kurdistan — Bapir Hadji Amin’s village was attacked during the time of harvest.
The Zharawa tent camp in Kurdish-governed northern Iraq is home to a growing number of people internally displaced by Iranian and Turkish bombings. — Photo by CPT
“Razgai village had more than 400 cows,” he said. “Some died in the attacks. The rest we sold very cheaply.”
Sitting in a U.N. tent in a camp with no shade or electricity, Amin’s mountain home, though only 20 miles away, seemed another world.
The rugged mountains on Iraq’s far northeastern edge are home to perhaps as many as a million Kurds such as Amin, forced to choose between their endangered villages, tent camps and expensive rented rooms.
In the last few weeks, a sharp rise in attacks from Turkish and Iranian armed forces has swelled the numbers of internally displaced people, as previously unharmed villages have been devastated.
“Until now, nothing has been done for these people,” said the gray-haired community leader.
Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq has been asked by a coalition of 200 families from nine villages in the Zharawa district to do a kind of accompaniment the peacemakers had not done before: to stand with the villagers as they faced not bombs or bullets, but bureaucracy.
“Two of the village leaders came to CPT,” said Michele Naar-Obed, part of the Iraq team, “and said they wanted to combine these villages into one village and move to a safer location.”
With their economic situation bordering on destitution, the villagers wanted to build a new village, but would be dependent on material aid to construct their homes.
Aid organizations in Iraqi Kurdistan were “virtually inaccessible to the villagers,” Naar-Obed said. “They are usually accessed by the [Kurdish Regional Government] officials, and [they] weren’t paying much attention to the villagers.”
Comments
-
Glad to hear someone is helping the Kurdish villagers. It's so sad how the Kurds live in such contested territory and are spread out in 4 countries.
Comment on the article Seeking a safer home, Iraqi Kurds come to CPT
The purpose of comments is to engage in dialogue. We expect commenters to treat authors and each other as each would want to be treated. Respectful criticism is welcomed; offensive comments or parts of comments will be removed by the site administrator. Name and comment will be posted; email address is for follow-up only and will not be made public.
Download
Download a free PDF showing the populations of
Mennonite groups and other Anabaptists.
