Following a fact finding mission late last year, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq is set to release a report on Wednesday, highlighting the region as a “major success story”.
Detailing a visit by a group of British parliamentarians to the region in November 2013, the report, entitled ‘Five years: the continuing story of success and transition in the Kurdistan Region’, commended the Kurdistan Regional Government on its progress since the visit of the first parliamentary delegation in February 2008.
The report concludes that,
“We have in the past five years seen a major success story in the Kurdistan Region”.
Noting that the House of Commons recognised the Kurdish genocide in 2013, the report also states,
“What emerged from the ashes of murder and bloodshed has been all the more remarkable. The KRG has set in train a progressive Muslim nation, democratic and subject to the rule of law. For Kurdistan, freedom is not just about elections, but a place where women have equality, where all religions are respected, where property rights are manifest, and where a free press is unshackled. It is early days but the trend is positive.”
Writing on the release of the report, Robert Halfon MP, added,
“Inexplicably, the genocide against the Kurds – described above – has not been recognised internationally, causing a deep sense of grievance amongst the Kurds”.
“The Kurds are a nation that does not live in the past, but learns from the past. Recognition would help heal wounds from many years.”
Read the full report here.