Recently, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the Iranian Ministry and its consulates in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah in order to hold Kurdish regional officials accountable for the unknown situation of “Iranian Kurdish missing persons” who are members of militant groups based in the region. “As soon as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs becomes aware of this issue, it will put the issue of these loved ones (missing) on the agenda, both in Tehran, in relation to the central government in Baghdad and in relation to our consulates in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.”
So far, Iranian Kurdistan Human Rights Watch, based on information obtained and verified, has spoken about the fate of a number of Iranian Kurdish children who have been caught in the ominous phenomenon of “forced disappearance” in Kurdish militant groups.
As we have repeatedly stated, the approach of militant groups such as PJAK to the use of children in war is contrary to their commitment under the Geneva Convention to the non-use of children under the age of 18.
Perhaps the deception and abduction of Kurdish teenagers, youth and, of course, children, and then arming and using them for the purposes and interests of the leaders of militant groups such as PJAK and the PKK, is the only achievement and gift of those claiming to defend the rights of the Kurdish people.
In fact, this is a human rights violation that these groups are constantly insisting on.
Who are the missing?
Our research shows that these children were considered easy recruiting targets by the PKK and its Iranian branch called PJAK, as well as its Syrian branch called PYD with a military branch called the YPG. Various, diverse and unusual methods, such as making promises such as working outside of Iran, immigration, and in some cases focusing on the problems and vulnerabilities of these children, such as some of them being children of divorce or their parents being poor or addicted, were used in conversations over social media that led to these children being lured to border towns, and smuggled into Iraqi Kurdistan. They recruited them into the ranks of the militias and took them to the battlefields in Syria, Iraq or Turkey.
Due to their young age and lack of recognition of political and military issues, these children have not had the opportunity to escape or resign, and unfortunately, there is no accurate information about their recruitment, which in some cases has been more than 15 years ago, or just 15 days ago.
Some PKK and PJAK media outlets have reported that these children were killed on the battlefield and in clashes with the Turkish army or in Syria, but there is no evidence as to whether they were actually killed or something else happened to them. Families have been denied access to burial sites or refused to tell where the body was located,
The information obtained by the Iranian Kurdistan Human Rights Watch has been collected by some colleagues of lawyers and human rights activists, and research has been conducted on their place of birth.
In some cases, a number of former PKK members have also been involved in finding out more about these children. They have actively tried to locate and contact several of them with success.
Call of the Iranian Kurdistan Human Rights Watch
Earlier, we issued a call for the disappearance of Iranian Kurdish children, in which we called on all human rights organizations and associations to assist the collection in order to better address this issue.
It is worth mentioning that the missing people about whom we have published reports so far are: “Monira Mina” from Khoy, “Mahmoud Salahi” from Kermanshah, “Ali Issazadeh” from Khoy, “Davood Osmanpour” from Mako, “Yousef Rashidi” From Baneh, Hassan Bilkanlu from Mako, Jabbar Moloudi from Marivan, Hadi Amini from Salmas, Ayub Heidari from Baneh, Vahid Karimi from Baneh, Amjad Mohammadnia from Divandarreh, Arash Sahadi The people of Kamyaran, “Keyvan Mahmoudpour” are from Urmia and..
As we have stated in previous conversations and reports, the families of these people are mostly unaware of the unknown fate of these people and they live a very difficult life, and it is natural that they need help in such a situation.
Certainly, based on the information that is continuously reaching the Human Rights Watch of Iranian Kurdistan, we will continue to follow the unknown fate of the missing Iranian Kurds and ask for help from all individuals, institutions and human rights organizations that are able to provide any relevant information or contribution to our cause.
Finally, it is better that the officials of the Iraqi Kurdistan region take this issue seriously and do not allow the Kurdish militant groups in that region to create problems for their neighbor, Iran. The disappearance of children that are subsequently being smuggled into Iraqi Kurdish territory is a bad issue for both sides.
In this regard, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran also said that “I address the Iraqi Kurdistan region and say that the situation of these people and our missing people should be determined immediately.”
