Yezidi, Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, Kurd, Mother, Father, Sister, Brother- HUMAN

photos and article by Pruittiporn Kerdchoochuen

The demonstration held on July 15, 2009 by the Council of Yezidis in Germany and co-sponsored by my employer, the Society for Threatened Peoples (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker), outside of Oldenburg in Lower Saxony, was part of a last minute effort to rally support for a Yezidi family threatened with deportation, as well as to raise awareness on the issue in general. Yezidi is a Kurdish religion of Indo-European roots, and most of its followers are Kurdish- speaking originally from northern Iraq. The family of 4 had moved to Germany over ten years ago to escape the oppression and lack of opportunities they face as an ethnic and religious minority in Syria. The 2 children, the oldest having been 3 when the family left Syria and the younger having been born in Germany, speak German, attend German schools and call Germany their homeland. Now that their 10 year visa is up, they are faced with deportation back to Syria, and thus to routine discrimination by a state notorious for its use of torture and mistreatment of minorities.






The demonstration brought together the Yezidi community, their friends and supporters, and human rights activists in the area. Little children, teenagers, parents and grandparents were all present, clad in everything ranging from traditional headscarves to Chucks and low riding jeans. For me, the rally emphasized the "human" in human rights. It served as a reminder that, in the end, we are not merely fighting for some intangible ideals, but for real people: for our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers...

To see more of Pruittiporn's photos of the protest, check out the album by clicking here!

Ka'aba

WORLD REFUGEE DAY: Blogger Yasmin Zaher, June 20th 2009

I have been in Copenhagen for almost three weeks now. While you may be asking what human rights violations, or what touching stories about poverty and pain happen in the world's happiest welfare state, the past few weeks have taken me deep into the darkness of political refuge seekers. Denmark has accepted almost 15,000 Iraqi refugees, most of them on basis of political asylum, but it is also home for many Palestinians, Somalis and former Yugoslavians. To keep this short, while they enjoy free education and welfare and live a relatively high quality of life, being a refugee in Denmark is anything but gentle.

Researching the psycho-social conditions of these Iraqi refugees, I've spent many hours listening to their courageous stories. They come from diverse backgrounds (Baghdad, Karbala, Mosul) and have been affected by Saddam's regime for different reasons, some were involved in communist or democratic parties, some are simply Shia'a, and with others you never find out. This heterogenous community, suffering at once from both cultural isolation and internal tensions, shares the word Ka'aba, pain, in common. Ka'aba is such a common word to hear in interviews, it has become trivial to me that integration is failing for the older generations, especially when it comes to psychological distress. Complaints of racism and unemployment are anything but irregular, and when asked about three wishes, 'returning to Iraq' has so far scored my entire interviewed population. Ironically, these people only wish for an Iraq like in Saddam's era, and hopes of return after the fall of Baghdad are now slowly disappearing.

In any case, it is safe to say that Denmark has closed its gates of immigration since the loss of the Social Democratic Party in 2001, and all Iraqi refugees who sought asylum after the war were actually former translators for the Danish forces.

In any case, it is safe to say that Denmark has closed its gates of immigration since the loss of the Social Democratic Party in 2001, and all Iraqi refugees who sought asylum after the war were actually former translators for the Danish forces.In Norrebro, inner Copenhagen, the so-called immigrant ghetto where Danske and immigrant gangs lead drug wars, where Shia'a and Sunni families are described to repeat religious bloodiness, 60 Iraqi asylum seekers sit and wait in Borsons church. They have reached focal point in both local and international media as them and 250 other Iraqis are facing forced repatriation. I quote Andreas Kamm, head of the Danish Refugee Council,

"Many of the Iraqi asylum-seekers here have been in the country for five to ten years. For most of that time the situation in their country has been so unstable that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has recommended that countries like Denmark give them protection. Denmark has ignored this. The politicians have instead insisted that people go back to a country so clearly aflame."

I guess you could read more about this online, but I found a really touching article by a Danish volunteer, remembering Oskar Schindler and how history will not repeat itself again.
Happy World Refugee Day.