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Humanitarian Liaison Centre in Kirkuk, May 2005

Latest Update from Humanitarian Liaison Centre, Kirkuk, May 2005


The big news is that Peace Direct has secured funding from the UN High Commission on Refugees for the HLC, to enable it to work with Internally Displaced People, ie people returning to Kirkuk from other parts of Iraq. This will complement the current work with the existing residents of Kirkuk. Many many thanks to everyone who has contributed funding to enable the Centre to get off the ground and prove itself in the crucial early months.

Sami’s team are currently re-interviewing all their active clients to see if their situation has improved. Security has worsened dramatically in the past 10 days – after a period of improvement, there has been an outbreak of random violence, including the killing of a CNN journalist with whom Sami was hoping to meet. Sami thinks this is linked to the allocation of Government portfolios. Therefore the Centre is operating mainly by appointment at the moment.

A worrying new sign is the number of complaints resulting from abuse of human rights during arrests by the Iraqi National Guard, who are now working closely with the CPA. Their behaviour is more extreme than the CPA's and there are complaints about thefts of money and property during raids. The atmosphere of suspicion is reminiscent of the bad old days of the Ba’ath party – no one can afford to say anything negative about any party or faction, for fear of violent reprisal.

On the positive side however, Sami has established regular contact with a US Colonel in the CPA. One of the first results was that he was able to locate a man who had been missing for six months - the Colonel found his name immediately on an internal list, and was able to tell Sami that he was in custody in Tikrit. This was tremendously good news for his mother, who had not known whether he was alive or dead. Sami is discussing with the Colonel whether the HLC could provide training in human rights to the Iraqi National Guard, in order to improve the standard of their behaviour during arrests.

With the Centre’s finances secured for the time being, Sami is focussing on ways of generating employment, which he sees as the key to reducing violence and rebuilding society in Kirkuk. He recently visited Turkey to see if he could procure second hand equipment so that people could restart businesses. He has found two Turkish enterprises willing to collaborate with the Kirkuk Industrial Association. Potential entrepreneurs in Kirkuk, who only have to provide three references, are being offered the chance to buy equipment in instalments. Training is provided with the Ministry of Internal Affairs providing accommodation for the training. Sami is also trying to find ways to set up simple bank accounts for these micro businesses.