Makhmur Refugee Camp, which was established by the United Nations (UN) in 1998 near the Mahmur district of Mosul Province in Iraq, is home to 12 thousand people, mostly children and the elderly. The camp was taken under an embargo by the Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) on July 17, 2019, on the grounds of the attack on 3 people working at the Turkish Consulate in Hewlêr.

 

With the increasing ISIS attacks in the region recently, Iraq wants to blockade the camp with wire fences. Iraqi government forces besieged the area on December 27 to close the camp with wire fences. Thousands of citizens reacting to this, took to the streets. While the Iraqi forces had to take a step back in the face of the reactions, the citizens in the camp emphasized that they would not accept such attempts. The sit in initiated by the citizens against such attempts continues on the 8th day.

 

'WE ARE DEFENDING OURSELVES'

 

Nadir Temel, who has been a refugee for 25 years and has lived in Makhmur Camp for 22 years, stated that the purpose of the sit in was to prevent the attempt of the Baghdad administration close the camp with wire fences, and said, "No one has defended us on any occasion until now. We defended ourselves with our own strength. Many organizations and regional governments have harmed us in terms of security. We don't trust them. We have paid a huge price in these 25 years. We are refugees. We don't have the means to much. Most of our rights within the international laws are limited and violated. But despite everything, we defend ourselves and our environment. To date, we have not harmed anyone. All the governments that have come to power have harmed us. We don't want anyone to hurt us anymore."

 

OPEN PRISON

 

Pointing out that the area around the camp is surrounded by ISIS as well, Temel said, “Recently, they tried to close our camp with wire fences. They want to put us in an open prison. As the people living here, we do not want to be in prison. Our sit in will continue as long as the Iraqi government continues with this pursuit. We demand that the Iraqi government act on the basis of human rights and treat us accordingly."

 

'WE WILL RESIST TO THE END'

 

Ahmet Çalan, who participated in the sit in, noted that the camp is intended to be turned into an open prison and said: “We do not accept this wrong and unlawful decision. We will fight against this decision. We will never accept this. We will resist until the end. We demand that this decision should be withdrawn as soon as possible. We want all human rights institutions to be in solidarity with us.”