The Kurdish People: Welfare (Hansard, 28 February 1990)

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Brabazon of Tara)
My Lords, we take a close interest in the welfare of the Kurdish people. We shall continue to monitor their treatment and to make clear our concern for their rights within existing international boundaries.

§ Baroness Ewart-Biggs
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for that Answer. However, is he aware that there is now clear scientific evidence that Kurdish refugees from Iraq have been poisoned by chemical warfare agents? Can he say what representations the Government have made to the Iraqi Government, either unilaterally or through the EC Middle East Working Party, about those outrages? Can the Minister also say how many Kurds from Iran, Iraq and Turkey have asked for asylum in this country; how many have been granted asylum; and how many have been refused it?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, we utterly condemn the use of chemical warfare. We played a leading role in the drafting of UN Resolution 612 which followed the barbaric acts at Halabja. The poisoning to which the noble Baroness referred was the subject of an article in the Lancet, which I have seen. The tests do not show any consistent evidence of the poisoning of bread supplies. Therefore we cannot condemn Iraq on the basis of unsubstantiated evidence. However, we have made clear on numerous occasions, both unilaterally and through other channels, our detestation of Iraq's record of abuses of human rights.
So far as concerns the granting of asylum to Kurds in this country, we are fully committed to the United Nations 1951 refugee convention and its protocol. There is no question of turning away any genuine refugees. I am afraid that I do not have the figures which the noble Baroness requested in terms of the specific numbers from each of the three countries concerned. I shall try to find the answer and let the noble Baroness know.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, further to my noble friend's supplementary question, is the noble Lord prepared to go further and say that the evidence is clear that the treatment of the Kurdish people is one of the tragedies and atrocities of this century, and that tens of thousands of Kurds have 730 been persecuted, tortured and killed in Iran, Iraq and Turkey? Will he say what is the Government's response to the evidence from Amnesty International and other sources that Kurdish refugees are being returned to Turkey without screening or any processing of their applications for asylum, with dire consequences for them? Can he also say exactly what happened in the case of the four Turkish Kurds who sought asylum at Manchester airport on 20th June? Was that case referred to the Home Office? What happened to those Kurds?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, naturally we are concerned at the treatment of Kurds in all of the countries to which the noble Lord referred. We have made strong representations in all cases. I am not aware of the incident at Manchester airport which he mentioned. I shall try to find the answer and let the noble Lord know.

§ Lord Gisborough
My Lords, can my noble friend say whether it is true, as Kurds claim, that they are discriminated against in Turkey itself? For example, is it true that they receive less pay for serving in the army than Turkish troops for doing exactly the same job?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I am not sure about the specific example given by my noble friend. However, there is no doubt that the Turks do not allow Kurds to use their own language. The Turks must be fully aware of their obligations under the concluding document of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. I understand that the subject is under discussion in Turkish political circles. We should let those discussions take their course and hope for a favourable result.

§ Lord Grimond
My Lords, can the Government confirm that while they refused to see the Dalai Lama, apparently in the hope of appeasing China, they have received the Health Minister of Iraq without any protest whatsoever:

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, as I said, we have made clear our attitude to Iraq's abuses of human rights. We continue to trade with Iraq. I am not sure what was the purpose of the Health Minister's visit, but I am sure that it is not a good idea to cut off Iraq completely. It is better to maintain dialogue.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, despite Turkey's far from perfect record on the treatment of the Kurdish people, can the Minister confirm that Turkey has been under a particularly heavy burden in the form of refugees from the greater inhumanities of Iraq? Can he say what our Government have done regarding financial help in order to ease the position and make the Turks give better treatment to those very unfortunate refugees?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Yes, my Lords. We are pleased that the Turkish Government have provided humanitarian assistance both to the Kurdish and the Bulgarian refugees who have come into Turkey. The Government have donated a total of £800,000 of aid towards those causes.

§ Lord Kilbracken
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the treatment of the Kurds in Iraq has amounted to an extremely serious case of genocide and, in Turkey, is a blatant violation of the Lausanne Treaty to which Britain was a principal signatory? If so, will the Government initiate appropriate action?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, the United Kingdom and other Western countries took the lead in co-sponsoring a firm and unambiguous resolution on Iraq at the last meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Naturally, we are disappointed that an Iraqi procedural motion meant that the resolution was blocked. Iraq is in no doubt about our concern over human rights abuse. We shall continue to pursue the issue bilaterally and in international fora, including the EC. Ambassadors in Baghdad made a collective protest to the Iraqi authorities last June.

§ Lord Kilbracken
My Lords, will the noble Lord comment on the situation in Turkey to which I referred? The treatment of the Kurds there violates the Lausanne Treaty.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, we expect the Turkish Government to treat all their citizens with due regard to the terms of the relevant international conventions to which Turkey is a party.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, I do not wish to appear ungrateful to the Minister. However, does he think that £800,000 is enough for the many thousands of refugees who have poured in? A sum of £800,000 will hardly re-roof this palace. Does he consider that sum to be generous?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Yes, my Lords, I consider it a generous contribution from one country. We are not the only people who should be expected to contribute to such funds. If everyone else contributed £800,000, it would add up to a good deal.

§ Baroness Ewart-Biggs
My Lords, will the Minister say whether Britain's exports to Iraq have risen in the past year? If so, does he agree that that is hardly a way to express condemnation of the human rights violations of a country?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I believe that we have condemned Iraq's human rights abuses unambiguously and on many different occasions.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, as the treatment of the Kurds is against the teaching of the Koran, will the noble Lord say whether any protests have been made to him or to his right honourable friend by the Moslem community in Great Britain?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I have not heard of any.