According to the Iranian Kurdistan Human Rights Watch (IKHRW), Leila had decided to travel to find a job so as to solve the economic problems of her family especially her old father. With her sister, she planned to go to Iraqi Kurdistan (IK) to work and send money to the family. To stay in the IK, she needed money and a contact.
In the Kurdistan Region, the government and official institutions have been repeatedly accused of corruption. It is natural that an Iranian Kurdish girl has to pay a ransom to others in order to find a job. Leila had neither money nor acquaintances. The intermediary agents force Leila and her sister to join a Kurdish armed and mafia group to be able to continue their stay in Iraqi Kurdistan so that they can obtain a residence card there. This armed group has repeatedly confessed to terrorist acts in Iran and the assassination of the Kurds, and since the beginning of the Revolution of 1957, it has assassinated the Kurds many times under the pretext of fighting the central government. This group is called the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Like other Kurdish armed groups in the Middle East, including PJAK terrorists, they recruit children as soldiers. The armed group has been accused of illegal activities to finance its terrorist activities and, of course, has repeatedly assassinated innocent people and civilians for what it describes as a “struggle” against the Iranian government.
Hengaw: Armed battle between the Revolutionary Guards and Iranian Kurdish guerrillas near Sarvabad, Kurdistan – Radio Payam Israel
The KDP has been installed in camps in Iraqi Kurdistan since four decades. The issuance of residence cards to Iranian members is one of the terrorist group’s income source. In this way it gets both money and new recruitments.
Leila and Negin Ahmadian, daughters of Khalid from Bookan, went to the KRG to work for the family. Leila was underage and goes to school. In the KRG, they were captured by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (HADAK) in Kuye city; but unlike many of the victims and child soldiers, they were lucky to be able to leave the group and return home. Leila and Negin told the IKHRW reporter on the atmosphere ruling the group: “The atmosphere in the group was a purely distrust; I have often felt the dominance of the gender tendency. They are some guys who think they can change the world with an ordinary weapon, and a few ideological books.”
“I made a big mistake. My family has never been and is not involved in armed actions. These groups can survive just by extortion. I saw a lot of teenagers and young people there. They should not be in the mountains but at schools.”
Expressing happiness over the rescue of Leila and her sister, the IKHRW follows the fate of other child soldiers captured by the PKK, PJAK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Mohammad Ghasemi, Benjamin Farajzadeh and Seyran Abbasi… They are still reported missing at the camps of these armed groups.
