Iranian Kurds in Iraq hopelessly seek asylum, UN assistance

Tens of thousands of Iranian Kurds live in dire conditions in the Kurdish region of Iraq as they await UN help.

Sulaymaniyah City, Iraq – On May 18, Behzad Mahmoudi, a Kurdish asylum seeker from Iran, set himself on fire in front of the United Nations office in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq. Four years ago, the 26-year-old fled his home city of Boukan in western Iran, hoping to find a better future away from the persecution and discrimination many Kurds in Iran say they face. But when Mahmoudi arrived in the KRG, he was unable to find a stable job or income. Desperate for a way out, he applied to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for temporary accommodation and asylum in a third country. But his friend told Al Jazeera that Mahmoudi’s requests went unanswered.