§ 50. Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received on the current position of the Kurdish population in Iraq and neighbouring countries.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe position of the Kurdish people is a matter of continuing concern. We condemned the use of chemical weapons against the Kurdish population in Halabja in March and more recent Iraqi military operations against the Kurdish community.
We have called for an independent investigation of allegations that Iraq has recently used chemical weapons against the Kurds and deplore Iraq's refusal to co-operate.
§ 58. Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any proposals to meet representatives of the Kurdish people.
§ Mr. WaldegraveMinisters do from time to time meet representatives of the Kurdish people as members of wider delegations. The last occasion was on 21 September when I met a delegation of various interested groups including hon. Members to discuss allegations of use by Iraq of chemical weapons.
Some Kurdish organisations have publicly declared their commitment to overthrow the legitimate Government of Iraq by violent means. It would not be proper for Ministers to receive the representatives of such groups.
§ 93. Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the Iraqi and Turkish Governments about the treatment of Kurdish refugees.
§ Mrs. ChalkerWe remain in contact with the Turkish Government about the Kurdish refugees. As my hon. Friend the Minister of State informed the hon. Member on 10 November, we have donated £250,000 to the Turkish Red Crescent via the British Red Cross for its Kurdish refugee relief programme.
We have repeatedly called on the Iraqi authorities to respect the human rights of the Kurdish community. We supported the demarche of the Twelve to the Iraqi Government in September, urging the extension of the amnesty granted to Kurdish refugees. We regret that this was rejected.
§ Mr. Allen McKayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what protests Her Majesty's Government has made to the Iraqi authorities over the gaoling of 30,000 Kurds after they attempted to flee the country as a consequence of that Government's campaign against the Kurdish minority.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWe have repeatedly expressed our concern over the treatment of the Kurdish community in300W Iraq, and have called on the Government of Iraq to respect their human rights. With other members of the Twelve we called on the Government of Iraq to extend the recent amnesty to members of the Kurdish opposition. We have condemned recent Iraqi military operations against the civilian Kurdish population, and called for an independent international investigation into allegations of use of chemical weapons.