PHOTO: A Child’s Stolen Dreams – Life for Iranian Refugees, al-Waleed Camp, Iraq

Is she fantasizing? About what? Fantasies are fed and formed by reality, one’s surroundings. What is her reality, what could be her understanding of the real world? She only knows sand and heat and cold and flood… this girl child was born in a tent and is a stateless little child. Her parents probably were also born somewhere in a camp as first generation Iranian Kurdish refugees.

Is she fantasizing? About what can she fantasize? Toys? What are those? Playing with older siblings or friends in a green and cool park? What is a park? She can fantasize about some things though: A smile on mama’s face, a father who is not constantly angry and restless, and a large, sweet orange!

Is there any crime greater than stealing sweet dreams and fantasies from a child?

Read more about the situation of Iranian Kurdish refugees at al-Waleed camp, Iraq.

Take action for the refugees struggling for their right to survive, al-Waleed camp, Iraq:
Write, call and fax key decisionmakers and demand that the rights of the Iranian Kurds in al-Waleed Camp be upheld. A sample letter that you can modify and send appears below, along with the email addresses for the relevant decisionmakers.

SAMPLE LETTER
To the Foreign Minister/Secretary of State,

I am writing to you with regard to the intolerable situation of the Iranian Kurd refugees in al-Waleed Camp, Iraq.

The people living in this camp have suffered an entire lifetime of displacement, violence, and rightslessness, having fled Iran in the 1980s, and having survived unspeakable circumstances in Iraq over the course of the past two decades

Their current situation – living in tents in a burning desert at the Iraq-Syria border, without access to education or work or even sufficient food, with complete lack of security – is at root due to the genocidal crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran. UNHCR also bears its full share of responsibility for failing to uphold even the most basic of rights for the camp’s Iranian Kurd residents. And the United States and the coalition governments also must own their share of responsibility for their situation: theirs are among the millions of lives that have been shattered as a direct result of the most recent war of choice in Iraq.

I therefore urgently request that your government take the lead in upholding the fundamental rights of these refugees from Iran. These refugees have a fundamental human right to asylum and protection. I ask your government to coordinate the immediate resettlement of the Iranian Kurds from al-Waleed Camp in Iraq to a safe third country.

Sincerely,
[your name]

UN, human rights addresss:
inspector@unhcr.org, maja.kocijancic@ec.europa.eu, inquiries@un.org, sg@un.org, npillay@ohchr.org, urgent-action@ohchr.org, iar@amnesty.org.uk, hrwdc@hrw.org, fwestphal@icrc.org, dkrimitsas@icrc.org

Foreign ministries and selected other government responsibles:
jerzy.buzek@europarl.europa.eu, michael.spindelegger@bmeia.gv.at, kab.bz@diplobel.fed.be, info@mvp.gov.ba, iprd@mfa.government.bg, imprensa@itamaraty.gov.br, imprensa@planalto.gov.br, pm@pm.gc.ca, ministar@mvpei.hr, minforeign1@mfa.gov.cy, podatelna@mzv.cz, udenrigsministeren@um.dk, vminfo@vm.ee, umi@formin.fi, bernard.kouchner@diplomatie.gouv.fr, inform@mfa.gov.ge, guido.westerwelle@auswaertiges-amt.de, gpapandreou@parliament.gr, titkarsag.konz@kum.hu, external@utn.stjr.is, dcpf@mea.gov.in, minister@dfa.ie, gabinetto@cert.esteri.it, segreteria.frattini@esteri.it, mfa.cha@mfa.gov.lv, tonio.borg@gov.mt, secdep@mfa.md, post@mfa.no, DNZPC.Sekretariat@msz.gov.pl, ministro@mne.gov.pt, senec@mne.gov.pt, pm@pm.gov.pt, msp@mfa.rs, ministry@mid.ru, miguel.moratinos@maec.es, beatriz.lorenzo@maec.es, registrator@foreign.ministry.se, info@eda.admin.ch, info@mfa.gov.tr, haguew@parliament.uk, stewartkb@state.gov

US Contact Form

Dutch Contact Form

Media (some may bounce):
evening@cbsnews.com, earlyshow@cbs.com, 60m@cbsnews.com, 48hours@cbsnews.com, ftn@cbsnews.com, dateline@nbcuni.com, hardball@msnbc.com, joe@msnbc.com, nightly@nbc.com, today@nbc.com, newshour@pbs.org, ombudsman@npr.org, city@thestar.ca, letters@latimes.com, letters@nytimes.com, Bruce.Wallace@latimes.com, Mark.McGonigle@latimes.com, news-tips@nytimes.com, foreign@nytimes.com, nytnews@nytimes.com, editor@usatoday.com, wsj.ltrs@wsj.com, letters@washpost.com, ombudsman@washpost.com, letters@newsweek.com, letters@time.com, letters@usnews.com, info@ap.org, redaktion@faz.de, redactie@volkskrant.nl, ole.erik.almlid@aftenposten.no, bjorn.hedensjo@dn.se, redaktion@tages-anzeiger.ch, foreign.news@thetimes.co.uk, simon.jeffery@guardian.co.uk, redazione.tg5@mediaset.it, redazione.studioapertorm@mediaset.it, skytg24.redazione@skytv.it, segreteria_roma@repubblica.it, roma@lastampa.it, esteri@liberazione.it, segreteria@unita.it, lorenzocairoli@hotmail.com, redazione@ilmanifesto.it, nadiapizzuti@gmail.com, nadia.pizzuti@ansa.it

This action is supported by The Committee to Support the People of al-Waleed Camp, comprised of the following organizations:
Mission Free Iran
Iranian Kurdish Refugees Coordination in al-Waleed Camp
Kurdistan Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran
International Federation of Iranian Refugees
World Without Borders