Is Europe Facing A New Wave Of Refugees?

ISHR Promotes Lead Will

According to unofficial reports – but confirmed to us by a mayor – the Iraqi central government intends to close the refugee camps in Kurdistan province at the end of June 2024 after more than nine years of existence. In order to encourage the people living there to leave the camps voluntarily, the Iraqi government has promised to support those who return to the Shingal region with a sum of five million Iraqi dinars (around 3,200 euros) to rebuild their homes. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which is part of the UN network, has promised a further 1,000 US dollars for the relocation.

However, the refugees do not trust the government’s promise, as it has made no effort to guarantee the safety of the returnees in the Shingal region. In addition, it has done nothing in the past ten years to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by IS and to guarantee the property of Yazidi refugees that Arab clans have taken possession of. If they are forced to leave the camps, the ISHR believes they will seek refuge abroad, especially in Europe.

ISHR staff member Al-Rasho visited the Mamrashan, Esyan and Khanke refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region from 14 to 28 January 2024. This trip was his 41st aid mission since the IS attack on the Yazidis, Christians and other minorities on 3 and 4 August 2014. He reports that around 300,000 people are currently still living in the refugee camps. Thousands of families have put down roots in northern Kurdistan and found jobs inside and outside the camps. Most children and young people up to the age of 20, half of the refugees, know no other life, but like all refugees, they feel the pressure that precedes the still unofficial announcement: the infrastructure in the refugee camps is being increasingly neglected; the central government is reducing the food supply.

The neglect of school and education is a subtle means of exerting pressure, with drastic consequences for the professional future: there are two school systems in the refugee camps: the Kurdish and the Arab system. Schools supported by Kurds are better equipped than those in the Arab system. There is a shortage of teachers in Arab schools. Many teachers are not employed and in some cases have been working for two years without pay in the hope of being employed in the future. Especially in the final year classes, where exams and final examinations are currently being held, the shortage of teachers is glaring. Pupils are expected to achieve results that they are unable to fulfil due to a lack of teaching.

The ISHR has been offering courses in several camps for years, the most important of which, the literacy course for women and girls who have not attended school as a result of trauma following abduction and abuse by IS henchmen, has been running for over five years. Sports, music and other courses have also been part of ISHR’s standard programmes for refugees for years.

Following discussions with the camp leaders, teachers and head teachers on site, ISHR has organised tutoring courses in view of the impending failure of many students in their exams. An English course for 60 pupils has been running at Camp Mamrashan since 1 February, divided into two groups of two hours of tutoring per day. At Camp Esyan, four courses in English, physics, chemistry and maths are offered for 130 pupils. At Camp Khanke, IT tutoring is provided for 30 pupils. All teachers, who continue to teach in the state schools without pay, receive 200 euros from ISHR for the tutoring courses plus 50 euros for teaching materials. The motivation of all those involved – teachers and pupils alike – is correspondingly high.