Niyaz Hemid, a political expert from Bashur Kurdistan, and Duhok University Faculty Member Dr. Kamuran Berwarî spoke to ANF about the reasons for the mass migration from Bashur Kurdistan, which has recently come to the fore because of the thousands of refugees stuck in appalling conditions on the Polish-Belarusian border.

Political expert Niyaz Hemid said that the people are experiencing serious difficulties due to the pressures of the KDP and added: "These are not migrants; they did not leave voluntarily. They left because of the lack of freedom and KDP terror. People see that there is nothing good in their lives. There is no peace and security. There is only KDP terror and prison. There is no freedom. The KDP saw this ground as appropriate to empty Kurdistan, thus implementing the plan of special war carried out by Turkey and other powers. They want to completely empty Bashur Kurdistan. This is the Turkish state's plan."

Tragedy at the border

Hemid underlined the tragedy on the Polish-Belarusian border and said that the situation of the people there is appalling: “Our friends in Europe and the KNK are there. The situation of refugees is very, very bad. It is very cold. Belarusian police treat refugees harshly. Refugees are desperate. Polish police don't give way for people to pass. The weather is very cold, there is no water. There are children, babies, elderly and women. Heyva Sor brought help, but Poland does not allow them near.”

A multi-planned migration

Dr. Kamuran Berwarî, from Duhok university, on the other hand, said that this migration was more planned and calculated than other migrations and drew attention to the crisis caused by the lack of peace, freedom, democracy, human rights and equality in Kurdistan. Very heavy political and security problems are behind migration. Stating that violations of rights, arrests, torture and killing, are injustice, Berwarî said that in fact all migrations are developed in a planned and conscious way by regional and international powers.

Emphasizing that especially young people, who are the strength of the Kurdish society, are leaving Bashur Kurdistan, Berwarî said: “Young people from Bashur Kurdistan do not see a future for themselves here because their country’s situation is getting worse by the day. The people of Bashur Kurdistan see no hope on the horizon. I believe that if the gates of Kurdistan are opened today and the people are told to leave, almost no one will remain here. Leaving Kurdistan is not a good thing, but the people see that this government has created such a unliveable situation and now they want to go.”

The government is the problem

Dr. Berwarî said that the main reason for this migration, particularly unemployment, the gap between income distribution, etc., is actually the government which does not run the region properly and added that “there has been the same government and administration mentality in Bashur Kurdistan for 30 years. This reigning style has not changed in 30 years. There is a problematic government, difficult to find anywhere else in the world. They are trying to rule the people with individual decisions, orders and instructions."

Berwarî said: "In the attacks launched against the guerrillas and the people of Bashur Kurdistan from 23 April to 24 October, chemical weapons have been used over 325 times. Today, there is also talk of Öcalan's freedom and the PKK's removal from the 'terror list'. In order to prevent this, regional and some affiliated powers want to distract the people of Kurdistan, Europe and America by creating a crisis in and outside the Kurdistan border. They are doing it so that the Kurdish project does not achieve success in the world. International unions are supporting the removal of the PKK from the "terror list" in many parts of the world in England and Europe. These powers want to prevent Öcalan from being freed. The fact that they set such an agenda in this period is to prevent all these developments.”