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Kurds for Labour

• KurdishMedia.com - By Mary Pole
• 01/02/2010 00:00:00

On the evening of the 25th January the Houses of Parliament saw a gathering of representatives from local community organisations, business men and women, local politicians, political activists, students and Members of Parliament. Gathered for the launch of ‘Kurds for Labour’, the theme was clear: Labour supports Kurds so Kurds should support Labour.

‘Kurds for Labour’ was formed to promote the interests of Kurdish people in the Labour Party and improve the quality of life of the Kurdish community in Britain. It aims to increase the recruitment of Kurdish people to the labour party, heighten the involvement and representation of Kurdish people within the Labour Party, and strenghten Kurdish support for the Labour Party at elections.

The focus of the launch vacillated from the support provided to Kurdish communities in the UK by the Labour party to the interests of Kurds internationally. The fact that the event coincided with the execution of Hassan al-Majid, well-known for his crimes against the Kurdish people, was mentioned by Ann Clywd who in her capacity as Special Envoy to the Prime Minister on Human Rights in Iraq has been an outspoken defender of the war. The timing of the event also coincided with the questioning of Tony Blair at the Chilcot enquiry, a process which has raised the significance of the relationship between Kurds and a Labour government.

The chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Kurdistan, Meg Munn, pointed to Labour’s ongoing role in the region of Southern Kurdistan, stating that ‘following the liberation as they call it in the Krudistan region of Iraq, following the UK involvement there, we have a duty to continue to support people in their development.’

The event served to highlight the importance of Kurdish communities engaging with politics at a local level. The labour candidate for the local concillor elections in Enfield North, Yusuf Cicek, stressed the need for Kurds to understand their citizenship and their voting rights as British citizens. ‘Without registering (on the electoral role) they cannot be seen, without voting they cannot be heard…. Every single member of the Kurdish community needs to be registered so that they can be represented. We need to see more and more Kurds engaged in British politics on the same level that they are engaged with the British economy.’

The value of ethnic minority involvement in politics was also emphasised by Ms Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s High Representative to the UK. ‘Britain is both a democratic society and a multicultural society so I think its very important for Kurdish people living in Britain to participate in politics,’ stated Ms Rahman, going on to discuss different forms of participation ‘from being very politically active on a day to day basis… or just by being a British Kurdish citizen writing a letter to their local newspaper or councillor or Member of Parliament.’

Whilst emphasis throughout the evening was placed on the region of Southern Kurdistan little mention was made of the situations faced by Kurds in Iran, Turkey and Syria. One of the attendees of the launch, Aram Chiragi, shared his hopes for the future of ‘Kurds for Labour’, that ‘Labour will win the election and put more pressure on Iran to release Kurds who are facing execution for political activism. This support from and for the Kurdish people shouldn’t just be surrounding the elections but should continue long after the elections and be rooted in polities that support Kurdish communities facing persecution globally.’ Whichever party gains a majority in the upcoming general elections, the Kurdish struggle for autonomy needs to remain on the agenda.

Mary Pole is a writer based in London, whose research interests include forced migration, the Middle East and Central Asia. She holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Oxford in Forced Migration.

• KurdishMedia.com - By Mary Pole
• 01/02/2010 00:00:00