Iraq to Shutdown Camp Ashraf

U.K. ready to help re integrate up to fifty MKO members

The one British citizen we were aware was in Camp Ashraf has left and returned to the UK. Of the five Iranian residents of Camp Ashraf with valid UK refugee travel documents, four have left Camp Ashraf and arrived in the UK. The fifth is free to return to the UK so long as the refugee travel document remains valid. The UK has agreed to consider further the cases of the approximately 50 residents with previous residence in the UK as refugees ..

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500 other MKO members to be expelled outside Ashraf

Five hundred other members of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, also MKO and PMOI) are going to be expelled outside Camp Ashraf over the coming days…recent developments surrounding the expulsion of the cult members suggests that in addition to the imminent expulsion of these members, more than 1600 Ashraf residents are willing to voluntarily return to Iran.The report also indicates that Iraq has issued arrest warrant for some 70 MKO members

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Americans Want to Keep the Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq

What the government of Iraq is seeking is sovereignty over its entire territory. Camp Ashraf is an impediment against their goal. Plus, the Iraqi government acknowledges the MEK as a terrorist group and insists on their leaving of Iraq. There is no evidence proving that the group has legally entered Iraq upon the admission of the Iraqi government, even at the time of Saddam. They have no documents showing that they have sought asylum, ..

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MKO Stalling Further Relocation

The anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO also known as the MEK, NCR and PMOI) announced that it will not allow the remaining residents of its Camp Ashraf to be transferred to Camp Liberty..This inappropriate demand is an affront to Iraq’s sovereignty and in contrast to UN Secretary-General’s statement released on Thursday in which Ban Ki Moon reiterated that”the Government of Iraq bears the primary responsibility..

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UN welcomes relocation of MKO members

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will immediately start the process of verification and refugee status determinations, a key step in preparing the submissions of eligible candidates for resettlement in third countries.Today’s relocation is in line with the memorandum of understanding signed in December by the UN and the Iraqi Government to resolve the situation facing the residents of Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf)..

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U.S. welcomes peaceful departure of Ashraf residents

The United States encourages Ashraf residents to continue their cooperation with Iraqi authorities and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) as they work to complete the relocation to Hurriya, she said. The United States will continue to coordinate with UNAMI and the Iraqi government to follow the relocation process, she said. In addition to around-the-clock UN human rights monitoring, the U.S. will visit the temporary transit facility at Hurriya regularly and frequently,U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Saturday.

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EU welcomes first transfers from Camp Ashraf

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton Saturday”very much welcomed”the news from Iraq that the first group of residents from Camp Ashraf has moved in a voluntary, orderly and peaceful manner to Camp Hurriya.”I congratulate the United Nations – in particular the Secretary General’s Special Representative Martin Kobler – for many weeks of sustained efforts to facilitate this critical first step towards a peaceful solution..

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First exiles to leave Iraq’s Camp Ashraf slam new site

Martin Kobler, the U.N. secretary general’s special representative and head of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), was at the temporary site to welcome the new arrivals.“This is the first step towards a better future outside Iraq,” he said. “I look forward to their continued cooperation with the Iraqi authorities to complete the relocation without delay.”He also praised the Iraqi for having ensured the “safe and secure relocation” ..

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Iranian exiles move to new Iraq camp

Several hundred Iranian exiles were traveling to a UN-approved site near Baghdad on Saturday after leaving Camp Ashraf, where Iranian opposition members have been based for decades.The move is part of a December 25 deal between the UN and Iraq..Iraq had previously aimed to close Camp Ashraf in Diyala province..But Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki said on December 21 that his government had agreed to extend the deadline to April

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A U.N. Call to Aid Iraq’s Iranian Refugees MEK

The plan now agreed to by the Iraqi government should be given a chance to work. As a first step, it calls for the camp residents to voluntarily relocate to a transit site at the Baghdad airport. In contrast to Camp Ashraf, this site would be monitored around the clock by observers from the United Nations. There, the residents would be interviewed by the U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, to determine their eligibility for refugee status..

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