UN in accord on voluntary return of ethnic Kurdish refugees from Iraq to Turkey

Iraqi, Turkish and United Nations officials have agreed on the modalities for the voluntary return to Turkey of up to 13,000 ethnic Kurds who have lived in exile in Iraq since the early 1990s, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced today.

Under the agreement reached yesterday in the Turkish capital, Ankara, the Iraqi authorities will ensure that the return is voluntary and that the refugees are not subjected to pressure. The accord stipulates that UNHCR will have full and unhindered access to the refugees both on Iraqi territory and once they have gone back to Turkey.

The Turkish authorities are to ensure that the refugees who volunteer to go back are free to return to their former places of residence or any other places of their choice within Turkey, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski told a news briefing in Geneva.

An estimated 9,200 refugees have been living in Makhmour Camp, near Erbil, while others are living in Dohuk and Erbil areas of northern Iraq.