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تصريح المجلس
الوطني الكردستاني
الاثنين, 31 مارس 2008
أدلى
رئيس المجلس الوطني الكردستاني – سوريا الدكتور شيركوه عباس تصريحا لشبكة شرق
الأوسط العالمية للأخبار حول الأحداث الأخيرة الدامية التي جرت للكرد في سوريا،
جاء فيه أن الكرد يتعرضون لتصفية قومية واقتلاع من أرضهم بالإضافة إلى تجريدهم
من الجنسية ومن
الكثير من أراضيهم منذ عقود خلت.
وردا على ادعاءات الوزيرة السورية، بثينة شعبان، حيال الكرد المجردين من
الجنسية كونهم مهاجرون من تركيا، حسب ادعاءات الوزيرة، قال الدكتور عباس مدحضا
تلك الادعاءات بأنها عارية من الصحة وأن الكرد يعيشون على هذه الأرض قبل أن
تكون لدولة سوريا وجود. كما أشار الدكتور عباس إلى تهميش العالم للمسألة
الكردية هناك وتأثيرها السلبي على وضع الكرد وما يعانونه من عمليات صهر قومي
وتهجير وحصار اقتصادي مفروض عليهم هناك. وفي سياق متصل بعثت الوزارة الخارجية
الأميركية برسالة إلى المجلس الوطني الكردستاني – سوريا تشكره فيها على جهوده
المبذولة من أجل إيصال معاناة الكرد في سوريا للإدارة الأميركية وإحاطة الإدارة
بما يجرى هناك بحق الكرد. من جملة ما يقوم به المجلس من اتصالات مع الإدارة
الأميركية هناك لقاء مرتقب سيتم فيه بحث السبل من أجل دعم القضية الكردية في
سوريا بشكل رسمي وعلنا. ومن جهتها طالبت لجنة محاسبة سوريا الأميركية من المجلس
أن تقدم لها المزيد من النقاط حول مطالب السوريين بشكل عام والكرد على وجه
الخصوص. يعد المجلس حاليا جدولا يتناول هذا الجانب من أجل تقديمه للجنة. ويتوقع
المجلس أن يتم تفعيل قانون محاسبة سوريا قريبا، وتطويره إلى قانون تحرير سوريا
على غرار قانون تحرير العراق. من طرف آخر كثف المجلس من اتصالاته مع الجهات
الإعلامية في أميركا الشمالية من أجل إلقاء المزيد من الضوء على المسألة
الكردية في سوريا. نتيجة لتلك الجهود بدأ الإعلام في أميركا الشمالية التركيز
على أوضاع الكرد هناك. حيث تتناول العديد من الصحف المكتوبة والإلكترونية وضع
الكرد السوريين، كما تجرى مقابلات صحفية وإذاعية مع العديد من أعضاء المجلس
المتواجدين في أميركا الشمالية. سيتم تفعيل هذا النشاط الذي اتخذه المجلس في
أميركا وكندا، من أجل الانتقال بالمسالة الكردية في سوريا على صعيد أميركا
الشمالية إلى نقلة نوعية في هذا المجال. ويأمل المجلس أن يلاقي دعما كبيرا من
أصدقاء الكرد فيها. ستباشر العديد من الصحف في أميركا الشمالية إلى إرسال
مراسليها إلى سوريا وإلى المناطق الكردية هناك من أجل تقصي الوقائع وقد تم طرح
هذه الخطوة من قبل المجلس أثناء لقاءاته مع الوسائل الإعلام في هذا الجزء من
العالم الحر. من جانبه يدعو المجلس الوطني الكردستاني إلى مد يد العون للمجلس
في هذا المجال لكي يتم تسهيل مهام المراسلين الذين سيرتادون سوريا من أجل إلقاء
الضوء على المسألة الكردية هناك. ما قام به المجلس وما يقوم به هو ملك لكل
الكرد وليس خاصا على فئة دون أخرى؛ لذا يرى أن لا تتقاعس الأطراف الكردية
القادرة على مد يد العون في هذا المجال لتسهيل مهام هؤلاء المراسلين. من
المتوقع أن تغادر لجنة حقوقية أميركية إلى سوريا لتقصي الحقائق على أرض الواقع
هناك. يعمل المجلس حاليا من أجل تسهيل مهمة تلك اللجنة.
هيئة كردناس
الإعلامية واشنطن
Written
by Sherko Abbas
Published Sunday, March 30, 2008
The month of March brought
death and torture to Kurds instead of the celebration of life that normally
heralds the beginning of new Kurdish year, traditionally commemorated on the
first day of spring. In fact, in all four parts of Kurdistan (Iran, Iraq,
Syria, and Turkey), Kurds suffered this month more than at other times by
virtue of the fact that this is the month when the Kurds celebrate their
national day or Newroz "New Kurdish year" and have gathered to protest
against tyranny and oppression. This trend started in March 12, 2004, when
there was the first full-scale Kurdish uprising in the whole Kurdish Region
of Syria where more than 85 people were killed, hundreds were injured, and
thousands were arrested after…….. In 2005, 2006, 2007, and most recently on
March 20, 2008, Kurds were also killed and injured during the season of
Newroz.
These outcries stem from the denial of human rights of a people are not
recognized, Syrian Kurds. Twice in recent months, President Bashar Al-Assad
was in a position to resolve the plight of more than a quarter of a million
stateless people in Syria who struggle to survive without citizenship. Since
the Iraqi liberation, hundreds of thousands of Kurds demonstrate daily and
demand democracy in Syria for all Syrians, the granting of rights for Kurds,
reversing ethnic cleansing policies and granting autonomy to the Kurdish
Region. His failure to act means continued hardship for Kurds who have been
stripped of their nationality, despite the fact they have resided in Syria
since well before the creation of the modern state. "All I want is to have
my childhood," one boy explained. But without proof of citizenship,
stateless individuals cannot enjoy their basic rights. Children do not have
regular access to education or healthcare. For adults, formal employment is
impossible. They cannot travel freely in the country much less outside. Some
individuals risk their lives in dangerous and expensive attempts to find a
way out of Syria.
As a whole, Kurds in Syria face obstacles to securing rights, but this group
is in a unique position. They cannot own property, have passports, vote, be
publicly employed, or even practice certain professions. One can find a
doctor selling tea on the street and a teacher transporting flour sacks.
Child labor is not uncommon, and youngsters can look forward to picking
cotton, selling cigarettes and shining shoes. They are not eligible for food
subsidies or admission to public hospitals.
Kurdish statelessness in Syria originated in 1962 when a census was
conducted in the northeastern region ostensibly to identify "alien
infiltrators" who had crossed the Turkish border since 1945. It was actually
one component of a campaign to "Arabize" this resource-rich area, then
primarily populated by non-Arabs or Kurds.
The census was undertaken in an arbitrary manner, resulting in situations in
which brothers from the same family, born in the same Syrian village, were
classified differently. Fathers became foreigners, while their sons remained
citizens, or vice versa. Kurds who had served in the Syrian army lost
citizenship, while families who were able to bribe officials kept theirs.
As a consequence, more than 120,000 people, or about 20 percent of the
Syrian Kurdish population at the time, were rendered stateless. Some were
also displaced to make way for Arab settlements. Thousands of people went to
sleep as Syrians and woke up to find they were no longer citizens. They
became foreigners (or ajanib in Arabic) in their own country. Over time the
number of denationalized Syrian Kurds has multiplied to over 300,000.
Without legal ties to any country, they are stateless under international
law.
Stateless Kurds are particularly incensed by inhumane restrictions placed on
their right to marry. Many couples are deemed single by the state, and as a
consequence are prevented from registering their children, much less sharing
a room in a hotel. Approximately 100,000 maktoumeen (children of
unrecognized marriages who have no documents at all) are invisible and
subjected to abuse at the hands of authorities.
With so few options for survival, stateless Kurds seek opportunities abroad,
taking tremendous risks to leave Syria by entrusting their safety to human
smugglers and pay $3,000 to $12,000 to crime rings, believing that the
hardship of living illegally in other countries would be preferable to the
hopelessness of their situation in Syria. A few even seek international
protection as refugees.
Over the years, there have been plenty of opportunities to resolve the
plight of stateless people in Syria. After the March 2004 uprising in the
Kurdish Region of Syria and in a speech marking the beginning of his second
presidential mandate, President Al-Assad said, "There is a consensus in
Syria on the need to resolve the question of the 1962 census." He told the
parliament that new legislation was being drafted.
In late 2007 the Syrian news agency SANA reported that President Al-Assad
ordered authorities to distribute identification cards to more than 20,000
Druze residents in the Golan Heights who have refused to accept Israeli
citizenship in an effort to "emphasize the belonging of the Syrian residents
of the Golan Heights to the Syrian motherland." It is ironic that President
Al-Assad can seemingly issue citizenship to one group with the single stroke
of pen but needs years of study to issue citizenship to long-staying Kurds.
Attempts to encourage Syria to uphold its international obligations are met
with hollow promises or are blithely ignored.
It should be recognized that Kurds are the largest Syrian constituency
seeking democracy and a new constitution for Syria They are willing to do
what it takes to bring democracy to Syria and implement a federalist
government which will protect the rights of all minorities.
President Al-Assad should take immediate steps to grant citizenship to
stateless individuals in accordance with Article 3 of the Syrian Nationality
Act and its obligations under international law. The U.S. should establish a
clear policy on Kurds in Syria and take its commitment to human rights
seriously enough to engage the Syrian government until each person's human
rights to a nationality is upheld.
Sherkoh Abbas is the President of the
Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria
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