MKO’s irresolvable crisis- that has happened to this group after the fall of Saddam- has nothing to do with the new Iraqi government or the pressures from Iran (despite all propaganda by the MKO); instead, the presence of terrorist and murderous gang of Rajavi in Iraq, which received legitimacy from the toppled dictator, is illegal from international viewpoints and should be reviewed.
In other words, the presence of MKO in Iraq was a part of Saddam’s plans against Iran and was not related to the world’s refugee regulations. Everyone knows that the relations of the MKO with the former regime was not an ordinary relationship; in fact, as Rajavi says himself "there were strategic ties between the two".
So, regime change in Iraq (in any case) could lead to the current situation for the MKO; it could also lead to reviewing the status of MKO. Even, according to some reports, some Baathist commanders and Saddam deputies didn’t agree with MKO’s staying in Iraq after the war and believed they should be extradited to Iran; the only person who prevented this was Saddam Hussein himself.
However, now that Saddam has been ousted and occupying forces are protecting the MKO, the situation is a bit different:
1. The legal status granted to the MKO by occupiers doesn’t meant that the MKO members are refugees in Iraq; in fact, this status prevents their extradition and helps them ask the UNHCR for refugee status.
2. Requests for getting refugee status should be handled by UNHCR, which reviews the requests and tries to find another country for the people. It can’t decide independently on the issue.
3. Only in the case of the agreement of Iraqi government, and only through the UNHCR, MKO members may be given refuge in Iraq.
4. MKO presence in Iraq is not legal at all, and this is the major problem for this group.
What has happened now in this regard is as follows:
1. Iraqi government has expressed its absolute disagreement with the presence of MKO in Iraq.
2. International organizations are waiting for the right time to come in order to start determining the fate of MKO members in Camp Ashraf.
3. Terrorist MKO, witnessing the imminent expulsion from Iraq, claims that its presence in Iraq is legal so as to put Iraqi government before international organizations in order to take advantage of the situation.
When forcing the occupying forces to stand before the Iraqi government proved to be of no use for the MKO, this terrorist group tried to force international organizations to stand before the government.
Shortly, the roots of MKO’s current problems in Iraq should be sought in its 25-year illegal presence in Iraq, which can’t be justified at all.
Irandidban – 2006/08/12