Brussels, 28/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 27 March, 210 MEPs called on President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and member states to use their influence and resources to take action for the safety of the inhabitants of Camp Liberty in Iraq. The leader of the Friends of Free Iran Intergroup, Struan Stevenson (ECR, United Kingdom), said during a conference that Ashton could not afford to ignore this letter.
Camp Liberty suffered a rocket attack on 9 February, which left seven dead and around a hundred wounded - and further attacks have been threatened. In a letter, the MEPs therefore call for the 3,100 residents - members of the Iranian opposition, the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) - to be repatriated to Camp Ashraf where they will have relative safety, then to become refugees in third countries which are safe. Maryam Radjavi, the leader of the PMOI, said that the EU and Ashton must take urgent measures to transfer the residents to a European country or facilitate their return to Ashraf.
Several MEPs criticise Ashton's position - on several occasions she has just reiterated the responsibility of the Iraqi government to ensure the safety of the residents of the camps. Stevenson said that the MEPs demanded action from Ashton and that they could not accept that the safety of the residents lie in the hands of the Iraqi government. Stevenson does not understand how the EU can trust Colonel Sadek who is guarding the camp when, in Stevenson's opinion, Sadek led the attacks against Camp Ashraf. Radjavi criticised Iraq for not having taken security measures since the attack on 9 February.
Dismissal of the special representative. The MEPs also want the EU to use its influence so that the secretary general of the United Nations might appoint an impartial and competent envoy to replace the current special representative, Martin Kobler. Radjavi said that they wanted Kobler to leave his position and that he is a facilitator of crimes against humanity. In Stevenson's view, and that of the former member of the UN assistance mission to Iraq, Tahar Boumedra, it is the responsibility of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to manage the issue of the residents of Camp Liberty and to ensure the UNHCR's humanitarian mission. According to the MEPs, Kobler lied about the security conditions of the camp and is too close to the Iraqi government. The MEPs add that Kobler said that the resettlement of the residents would be quick when, in fact, only seven of them have left for a third country.
EU support for efforts of UN and Kobler for resettlement. Ashton “fully supported the efforts of the United Nations and Kobler to facilitate the resettlement process”, Ashton's spokesperson told EUROPE. In a press release of 20 March, Ashton stressed that permanent resettlement outside Iraq is the only solution, and she said that every effort must be made to ensure that the resettlement process in third countries goes ahead without delay. Ashton also called on the residents of the camp to cooperate with the UN constructively, including through the resumption of talks with the UNHCR, and to accept resettlement. The residents refuse these talks in order to protest at their conditions of security.
In a letter of 7 March, the MEPs had already called on European leaders to take action for the residents of Camp Liberty. (CG/transl.fl)