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At different times, primarily starting with the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Kurds from Iran have fled the country fearing political persecution.
Due to geography and sharing a common language, many of the Kurds from Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan) came to Kurdish areas of Iraq which are now a part of the Kurdistan Region.
Legally as Iranian refugees, they are unable to get Iraqi citizenship and fear the Iranian regime making them unable to return to their homes.
They often protest outside of the United Nations complex in the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil. As temperatures get colder, they complain that they lack heating oil and other rations.
"My father has died, my mother is still alive. My daughter is 18 and she is tenth grade. She was shivering of coldness last night. I went to the UN compound today. I asked them, ‘Where is our money for heating oil?’ They said there is no money. I asked them, ‘When will you give it to us?' “said Mohammed Abdullah.
He criticizes the UN for wasteful spending on SUVs while they struggle to make ends meet.
"I said I would commit suicide here but my wife didn’t let me to do it. I am about to commit suicide. I am fed up with life and with everything. We get $3 for one person. Why they should have a $30,000 car but have nothing? Why do they take my rights and don’t give us our rights?" he said.
Many of the families live in Gidrachall Camp in Erbil. While able to attend schools with locals, parents say they cannot provide their children with clothes as good as citizens.
"This is the situation of our children. They don’t have good clothes when they go to school like the other children in the Kurdistan Region. Look! How much they differ? The difference is immense," said one father, Mustafa Qadir.
He pleaded for the UN or the Kurdistan Regional Government to step in.
"I ask for the KRG and UN to find a remedy for us. This is not a life. We are not living in good conditions. Refugees are taken care of everywhere, but I don’t know why aren’t we taken care here? It’s as if there is no one living here. I don’t know why," said Qadir.
Unmarried women are the most affected ones in a life of poverty.
"We thank God if we get a meal for today and tomorrow. Our lives have never been good here; not only our life but the lives of all here are difficult. Neither we nor our children have a good life in this cold weather. We ask the KRG and President [Masoud] Barzani to help the Iranian refugees," said Afsana Mirani.
The problem has become generational in the camp that was built 24 years ago.
Due to geography and sharing a common language, many of the Kurds from Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan) came to Kurdish areas of Iraq which are now a part of the Kurdistan Region.
Legally as Iranian refugees, they are unable to get Iraqi citizenship and fear the Iranian regime making them unable to return to their homes.
They often protest outside of the United Nations complex in the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil. As temperatures get colder, they complain that they lack heating oil and other rations.
"My father has died, my mother is still alive. My daughter is 18 and she is tenth grade. She was shivering of coldness last night. I went to the UN compound today. I asked them, ‘Where is our money for heating oil?’ They said there is no money. I asked them, ‘When will you give it to us?' “said Mohammed Abdullah.
He criticizes the UN for wasteful spending on SUVs while they struggle to make ends meet.
"I said I would commit suicide here but my wife didn’t let me to do it. I am about to commit suicide. I am fed up with life and with everything. We get $3 for one person. Why they should have a $30,000 car but have nothing? Why do they take my rights and don’t give us our rights?" he said.
Many of the families live in Gidrachall Camp in Erbil. While able to attend schools with locals, parents say they cannot provide their children with clothes as good as citizens.
"This is the situation of our children. They don’t have good clothes when they go to school like the other children in the Kurdistan Region. Look! How much they differ? The difference is immense," said one father, Mustafa Qadir.
He pleaded for the UN or the Kurdistan Regional Government to step in.
"I ask for the KRG and UN to find a remedy for us. This is not a life. We are not living in good conditions. Refugees are taken care of everywhere, but I don’t know why aren’t we taken care here? It’s as if there is no one living here. I don’t know why," said Qadir.
Unmarried women are the most affected ones in a life of poverty.
"We thank God if we get a meal for today and tomorrow. Our lives have never been good here; not only our life but the lives of all here are difficult. Neither we nor our children have a good life in this cold weather. We ask the KRG and President [Masoud] Barzani to help the Iranian refugees," said Afsana Mirani.
The problem has become generational in the camp that was built 24 years ago.
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