IRAQ: CPT spends most of February working out visa problems
March 24th, 2008
in:
CPTnet
24 March 2008
IRAQ: CPT spends most of February working out visa problems
For most of February 2008, the team worked at establishing itself in the Kurdish north of Iraq. In mid December, the team had submitted its NGO registration and learned they would receive residency cards when the Kurdish authorities approved their registration.
Meanwhile the team began to move forward on a number of projects that included work with independent journalists, nonviolence training for a local youth group, and accompaniment of displaced villagers back to their homes following the Turkish attacks inside Iraq in December 2007.
In early January 2008, the team received word from authorities at the Kurdish residency office that a problem, "maybe with your government" had come up regarding their visas. A U.S. embassy representative informed the team that U.S. State Department had nothing to do with registering NGOs. The Kurdish residency office stripped team members of their one-month visa and told them to leave the country within a week.
The team met with the head of the Kurdish security police who told them, “My government doesn’t know who you are. You must get a letter from your government telling us who you are and that they will allow you to work here.”
“But our government says that it is not their responsibility to interfere with the registration of NGOs,” the team informed him. “If we can get such a letter, who would we give it to in your government?”
“I don’t know, that is not my job,” the head of the security department responded.
Meanwhile, in North America, the CPT support team called the U.S. State Department and Senators. All promised to look into the matter.
Team members then set up a meeting with the Kurdish Minister of Interior. The earliest he could meet with them was the day the team was scheduled to leave the country. The team decided to risk detention and deportation and stay for the meeting.
The Minister of Interior sent the team to his legal advisor. Michele Naar-Obed contacted the embassy representative and put him on the phone with the legal advisor and fifteen minutes later, the team received another one-month visa. The legal advisor informed the team that “the problem” arose from last year’s kidnapping of CPTers who left the KRG region. The Kurdish government wanted some kind of assurance from the U.S. that CPT is a peacekeeping organization and works with human rights issues.
Since neither the State Department nor the U.S. embassy in Baghdad would write such a letter on CPT’s behalf, the U.S. embassy representative set up a meeting with the security officials in a last ditch attempt to smooth things out. Following the meeting he reported, “The door is opened slightly. The security officials are willing to extend your visas and want to know more about your work.”
The team then received visa extensions from security officials, permission to have a rotating team, and an appointment to talk further about the team’s projects upon its return in April.
24 March 2008
IRAQ: CPT spends most of February working out visa problems
For most of February 2008, the team worked at establishing itself in the Kurdish north of Iraq. In mid December, the team had submitted its NGO registration and learned they would receive residency cards when the Kurdish authorities approved their registration.
Meanwhile the team began to move forward on a number of projects that included work with independent journalists, nonviolence training for a local youth group, and accompaniment of displaced villagers back to their homes following the Turkish attacks inside Iraq in December 2007.
In early January 2008, the team received word from authorities at the Kurdish residency office that a problem, "maybe with your government" had come up regarding their visas. A U.S. embassy representative informed the team that U.S. State Department had nothing to do with registering NGOs. The Kurdish residency office stripped team members of their one-month visa and told them to leave the country within a week.
The team met with the head of the Kurdish security police who told them, “My government doesn’t know who you are. You must get a letter from your government telling us who you are and that they will allow you to work here.”
“But our government says that it is not their responsibility to interfere with the registration of NGOs,” the team informed him. “If we can get such a letter, who would we give it to in your government?”
“I don’t know, that is not my job,” the head of the security department responded.
Meanwhile, in North America, the CPT support team called the U.S. State Department and Senators. All promised to look into the matter.
Team members then set up a meeting with the Kurdish Minister of Interior. The earliest he could meet with them was the day the team was scheduled to leave the country. The team decided to risk detention and deportation and stay for the meeting.
The Minister of Interior sent the team to his legal advisor. Michele Naar-Obed contacted the embassy representative and put him on the phone with the legal advisor and fifteen minutes later, the team received another one-month visa. The legal advisor informed the team that “the problem” arose from last year’s kidnapping of CPTers who left the KRG region. The Kurdish government wanted some kind of assurance from the U.S. that CPT is a peacekeeping organization and works with human rights issues.
Since neither the State Department nor the U.S. embassy in Baghdad would write such a letter on CPT’s behalf, the U.S. embassy representative set up a meeting with the security officials in a last ditch attempt to smooth things out. Following the meeting he reported, “The door is opened slightly. The security officials are willing to extend your visas and want to know more about your work.”
The team then received visa extensions from security officials, permission to have a rotating team, and an appointment to talk further about the team’s projects upon its return in April.