Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore.

In December 2011 an agreement was reached between the United Nations - specifically the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees - and the Government of Iraq on the closure of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. The camp residents agreed to their relocation under its terms. The process for the closure of the camp has been under way since February this year, under the supervision of the UNHCR and the UN Special Representative, Mr. Martin Kobler. Of the 3,400 residents in Camp Ashraf, approximately 2,000 have now transferred to Camp Hurriya, formerly Camp Liberty, near Baghdad. This is designated as a temporary transit location from which the residents will move on to more permanent accommodation in other countries which both the residents and the Iraqi authorities now agree is the desired solution. The transfer process to Camp Hurriya is a difficult one, with great distrust and suspicion between the two sides. This issue has been well outlined by the Senator.

In Camp Hurriya the UNHCR is processing the individual residents and determining where best to relocate them. A number of residents may already have a citizenship or other claim to relocation in another country and the UNHCR is identifying these first. The remaining residents, probably a majority, must be found relocation places in other countries. The UNHCR is encouraging countries to make such places available.

It is important to be aware of the wider background to these issues, some of which have been alluded to by the Senator. Camp Ashraf was set up as a military base by the People's Mujahidin of Iran, PMOI, in 1986. The PMOI was classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union until 2009 and is still so formally designated by the US Government. Neither the PMOI nor the political wing, the NCRI, has significant support inside Iran and the people concerned cannot be regarded as the Iranian resistance or a government in exile. Their forces assisted Saddam Hussein in the violent suppression of uprisings in the Shia and Kurdish communities in Iraq, during which large numbers of civilians were massacred. By its own admission, the PMOI admitted responsibility for numerous attacks in Iran resulting in thousands of deaths during the paramilitary campaign. Although no longer engaged in violence, the PMOI has continued to run Camp Ashraf in a tightly controlled and near totalitarian manner, with well documented reports, including from Human Rights Watch, of the abuse and intimidation of residents.

Following the war of 2003, the new Iraqi Government took a very different view of the presence of the PMOI enclave in the country and sought at first to move it from its position near the Iranian border. Latterly, when this was resisted by the residents, the Iraqi Government has moved more strongly to have the camp closed altogether and the PMOI and the residents moved to other countries. Although the background from which Iraq has approached the issue is appreciated, the protection and human rights of the residents are key concerns for Ireland, its EU partners and the wider international community. The European Union has enunciated a series of essential principles regarding Camp Ashraf and its residents. Iraq is, once again, a fully sovereign state, no longer under the tutelage of either the United States or the United Nations. It has sovereignty over the camps and is within its rights in seeking to move Camp Ashraf away from the Iranian border. Equally, this means that the Iraqi Government is responsible for the safety and humane treatment of the residents. There must be no question of forced return of any resident to Iran and the Iraqi authorities have accepted this. The process under the UNHCR is the agreed and only means of resolving the situation at Camp Ashraf and should be adhered to.

With regard to the living conditions in Camp Hurriya, we call on the Iraqi authorities to allow all reasonable provision for the safety and comfort of the residents, including the transfer of necessary equipment and property from Camp Ashraf. In doing so, we recognise that it is the judgment of the UNHCR that Camp Hurriya is of an acceptable standard to accommodate refugees. The precise status of the camp is a matter for the UNHCR and the Iraqi authorities to decide.