HEYVA SOR A KURDISTANE

Sept 25, 2014

Since the civil war in Syria began in 2011 the Kurds have been able to keep Rojava (West Kurdistan/Northern Syria) relatively stable whilst fighting off attacks from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists. Since 15th September ISIS/DAIS has intensified its attacks against the Kurdish population in Rojava and seized control of 60 villages near the border in a two-day campaign as they approached the town of Kobanê, Syria’s third-largest Kurdish town. They have surrounded the town, which sits hard up against the Syrian-Turkish border, and have been firing into it from three sides for three weeks and in the last few days gained control of large swathes of it.

At least 400 people are reported to have died in three weeks of fighting for Kobane and 180,000 Syrians Kurds have fled to escape the war and more than 300,000 remaining are threatened with a massacre.
Kobane, one of three Kurdish cantons of Rojava, that declared autonomy last year, has been under attack by fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria even before the insurgents seized a swathe of territory in neighboring Iraq last month.
Over the same period, Kurdish authorities in Kobane have been calling in vain for aid and international diplomatic and political intervention to stop the ISIS attacks.
Kobane’s Kurdish defenders are now facing an enemy that has been reinforced with advanced US weaponry captured when Mosul, Iraq’s second city, fell to the insurgents, they are no longer able to hold a strong resistance as they are now highly outgunned by ISIS.
In the U.N. resolution adopted on Tuesday, the Security Council sought to break the deadlock in aid deliveries to the Syrian people by authorizing a 180-day period in which relief will be delivered across conflict lines and additional border crossings.
However, the four crossings specified in the U.N. text do not include the border post between Kobane and nearby Turkey, which represents the Kurdish canton’s lifeline to the outside world.
That means that none of the humanitarian assistance, including medical and surgical supplies, that is destined for the rest of Syria will reach the region directly, according to the foreign observers.
There are fears of a mass massacre of the Kurds in the region.
The foreign observers said that, in the event of further ISIS gains in Kobane, there would no hope for the civilians and nowhere for them to flee.
The International community has a humanitarian responsibility to make sure that any humanitarian Aid delivered to Syria must also reach the autonomous Kurdish Regions, for Kurdish civilians, where the ISIS terrorists are fighting their heaviest battles.
So far we have fulfilled many relief efforts thanks to your valuable donations from all over the world. However, more urgent support is wanted to help save lives and ease suffering in the midst of this emergency. We ask you to donate generously to increase the amount of much need humanitarian aid relief to this war stricken region. Your donations will not only help the refugees from Kobane but also the residents of the 60 Kurdish villages which have also been displaced.
Please donate today and help make a difference.

(According to the Supervisory and Service Directorate decision we cannot collect donations in the State of Rheinland Pfalz.)

Oct 29, 2012

To the general public

We are compelled to publish the statement below regarding the Supervisory and Service Directorate (SSD) of Rhineland-Palatinate state’s decision to halt Kurdish Red Crescent’s activities based on false grounds.

The SSD in Rhineland-Palatinate has stopped our activities for advertising with ‘Roj TV’ and ‘Yeni Özgür Politika,’ including assisting the Azadi Association, an organization located in Düsseldorf working for public welfare. We are also penalized for helping five Kurdish women fleeing from Turkey to seek asylum in Lebanon due to the ongoing war. Furthermore, the SSD stopped our activities within the state of Rhineland-Palatinate on May 20, 2010 based on the claim that we did not have the authority to use the Red Crescent logo.

We contested this unfair decision through our attorneys, arguing that our activities had no political motivation. On the contrary, we stated that we are a humanitarian aid agency and evidenced this with documents. Since we failed to convince the SDD we disputed the decision at the Administrative Court in Rheinland Pfalz state on December 7, 2010. However, when the aforementioned court rejected our application on March 21, 2011, we appealed to the Higher Administrative Court, which is at the time of writing an ongoing legal process.

We are saddened by the false news published by certain media outlets after the Administrative Court rejection. Therefore we felt it necessary to highlight a few points in order to confute these groundless statements and to prevent any possible misunderstanding among the general public:

1.Kurdish Red Crescent was established legally in 1993 in accordance with the German laws of associations. It has been active for 21 years and is the only Kurdish humanitarian aid organisation. Its activities are limited to Germany. We are not affiliated with the so-called Kurdish Red Crescent as claimed by ANF news agency. However, certain other humanitarian organisations, including those under the name of Kurdistan Red Crescent are our sister organisations with whom we have joint humanitarian projects.

2.Kurdish Red Crescent has no political motivation; it selects the receivers with great care the when it offers them humanitarian assistance. Similarly, when it partners with other organisations it makes sure that they truly work for the public interest.

3.Because most of our staff and donors come from a Kurdish background makes it only natural for us to advertise with such Kurdish media outlets as Roj TV and Yeni Özgür Politika. Although the SSD is well aware of this fact, it prefers to politicize the matter by claiming that the Kurdish Red Crescent intends to support the PKK (the Kurdish acronym for Kurdistan Workers’ Party) by advertising with Roj TV and Yeni Özgür Politika, which they believe are affiliated with the PKK. Moreover, the primary duty of the SSD is to supervise whether the regulations are being followed by each organisation. When they detect a breach of regulations first they must send a legal warning to the organisation violating the regulations. If the organisation persistently violates the regulations then the SSD has the authority to resort to further legal action, such as preventing the activities of the organization. However, the SSD has failed to apply this procedure in our case, as it did not send us any legal warning before taking a legal action. Thus, the SSD decision is clearly a politicised and unlawful one. 

4.Azadi Association is a Germany-based organisation that works for public welfare. We cooperate with Azadi since we are convinced that it sincerely seeks to assist anyone and everyone in need of aid, regardless of their political views. We do not believe that any humanitarian aid organisation has the right to discriminate people based on their political views. Fact is we are a humanitarian organisation, not a political one. As such we extend a helping hand to everyone regardless of their social, ethnic, religous or political background. 

5.It is unprecedented to penalise an organisation that helps war-stricken people. It is beyond comprehension why the SSD would criminalise us for helping five Kurdish women fleeing from war.

6.The SSD also stated that we could not use the Red Crescent or the Red Cross symbols because only states are authorized to do so. Our argument that our logo was slightly different from the Red Crescent was dismissed. 

7.We will continue to inform the public about the ongoing legal process. 

26.03.2011

Kurdistan Red Crescent

Urgent call on Kurdish people and all generous supporters for donations

In the past week the militants of the Islamic State (IS) have been targeting a non-Muslim Kurdish minority known as Ezidis (or Yazidis) in the Sengal (Sinjar) area of Southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq). As this bloody campaign has now turned into an act of ethnic and religious cleansing, around 200,000 Yazidis have fled their homes to avoid death. Tens of thousands of them are trapped on the arid Mount Sinjar with no water or food. A number of children and elderly have already starved to death.

The Kurdish Red Crescent is continuing its relief efforts in Rojava (northwest Syria) as usual and is coordinating with local partners to distribute aid.

The Kurdish Red Crescent is prepared to send relief aid to Southern Kurdistan and call on all conscientious people to in the name of humanity extend a helping hand to those affected by the relentless and horrific IS attacks.

So far we have fulfilled many relief efforts thanks to your valuable donations from all over the world. However, more urgent support is wanted to help save lives and ease suffering in the midst of this emergency.

Please donate today and help make a difference.