Saturday, April 05, 2008

iraq is safe, except it's not

The war in Iraq is, as we all know, about liberating the country and making it safe for its people.

We're doing such a good job of it that the Home Office has decided that the country is now safe, and Iraqi refugees must return. If the refugees disagree, well, we take them by force from the prison 'detention centre' they've been held in and put them on a military flight.

Despite - once again - deciding that we can't withdraw troops after all because the country is so volatile, despite that perpetual background hum of stories halfway down the news that you don't pay attention to any more telling you that there's a 7/7 going off every day in Iraq, we are convinced it's safe to send them back.

Telling Iraqi refugees their country is safe has all the integrity, truth and commitment to the welfare of those being addressed as Bush's announcement to American troops - nearly five years ago - that 'major combat operations in Iraq have ended'.

The Home Office say it's safe now, but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's say

We advise against all travel to Baghdad and its surrounding area, the provinces of Basra, Maysan, Al Anbar, Salah Ad Din, Diyala, Wasit, Babil, Ninawa and At-Tamim (At-Tamim is often referred to as "Kirkuk Province"). We also advise against all but essential travel to the provinces of Al Qadisiyah, Muthanna, Najaf, Karbala, and Dhi Qar.

The security situation in Iraq remains highly dangerous with a continuing high threat of terrorism throughout Iraq, violence and kidnapping targeting foreign nationals, including individuals of non-western appearance.


I tend to believe the Foreign Office's opinion on this.

So does Solyman Rashid, an Iraqi asylum seeker we returned last year. Or at least I think he would do, had he not been killed by a car bomb in Kirkuk.





Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq

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