Iranians fleeing Iraq stranded at Jordan border

Iranians fleeing Iraq stranded at Jordan border
Reuters
April 16, 2003

AMMAN, April 16 (Reuters) - More than 200 Iranian refugees are stranded in no-man's land on the Iraqi-Jordanian border after being refused entry into a transit camp inside Jordan, aid officials said on Wednesday.

Peter Kessler, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters more than 110 Iranian refugees had arrived at Iraq's Treebel border post, 550 km (340 miles) west of Baghdad. The border post is under the control of U.S. forces.

The Iranians had fled al-Tash camp, about 120 km west of Baghdad, which holds more than 14,000 Iranian refugees, mostly ethnic Kurds, Kessler said.

"We continue to approach the Jordanian government regarding the continued need to admit people fleeing the insecurity in Iraq," Kessler said.

Kessler urged the authorities to allow the Iranians temporary asylum in a camp set up 60 km inside Jordan in the town of Ruweished for third country nationals fleeing Iraq.

"It is unclear so far exactly what occurred at al-Tash to cause these refugees to flee. We are asking the government to allow this group into the country so that they can be sheltered in Ruweished," Kessler said.

Another group of 90 Iranians who arrived at the frontier last Friday hold refugee documents from various European and North American countries, Kessler said.

"These people need to be properly interviewed. We've informed the government they should not be summarily sent back to Iraq," Kessler said.

Officials said some of the Iranians were members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen e-Khalq (MEK), also known as the Peoples Mujahideen, which had been sheltered by Saddam Hussein's government.

Before the war to oust Saddam, the Mujahideen maintained a well-equipped military force on the Iraqi side of the Iranian border. It received much of its money from the Iranian community in the United States.

Aid workers had feared several thousand Iraqi refugees would flee the war to neighbouring Jordan, but until now only a small number of Iraqis have turned up.