As the international community is preoccupied with the horrors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel’s annexation plans in Judea and Samaria, Turkey transforming the Hagia Sophia into a mosque and the mysterious explosions that have taken place in Iran, the Islamic Republic and its proxies continue to oppress minorities amid the pandemic. In Syria and Iran, itself, these repressions have only intensified and gotten worse, as the mullah’s regime believes that it can now get away with such conduct, as the US is unlikely to attack Iran under the present political circumstances. Due to this reality, individuals who share both Israel’s and America’s desire for a free Middle East without terrorism and totalitarian dictatorships are suffering immensely and the world is simply not paying attention to their cries for help.
Recently, the European Parliament held a webinar titled “The Human Rights Conditions of the Minorities in Iran during the coronavirus times.” In this webinar, Manel Msalmi, President of the European Association for the Defense of Minorities, declared: “During the pandemic, there were a lot of human rights violations in the prisons. The inhumane regime transferred people affected with the coronavirus to the prison cells of Ahwaz activists. Several Ahwaz female prisoners were detained, some of whom were labor rights activists. Ahwazi women are tortured because of their female Arab identity, which they want to eradicate. Hundreds are enduring torture in prison for being women and Arab. A lot of Ahwazi children are forced to work for their parents were arrested. A couple of Ahwazi child workers died recently in an accident. They are obliged to stop school at an early age to feed their families. Minorities are the most vulnerable population during the pandemic. The lack of children’s rights and gender inequality got worse.”
Dr. Khalaf Al Kaabi, head of the Foreign Committee for the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Al Ahwaz, concurred: “The situation is going bad from to worse in Iran, in Al Ahwaz in particular. They are tortured, starved, and indiscriminately discriminated against. They do not have access to their own wealth. Al Ahwaz is one of the richest lands in the Middle East. They are using our wealth and spending it on terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, while our people are living on less than half a dollar a day. They suffer from multiple diseases and the spread of drugs by the IRGC, which is a plot against the Ahwazi youth to damage their future. The suicide rate is rising in Al Ahwaz. Dozens of youth have committed suicide recently. The confiscation of land is a malicious plot to change the demographic make-up to push the Al Ahwaz out of their land. The people suffer from lack of fresh water. Their water is diverted to Iranian cities. They are not allowed to speak their own language and to partake in their own culture. The crimes against the Ahwazi people are countless.”
Nasser Boladai, the General Secretary of the Balochistan Peoples Party, declared in the webinar that his people have been treated awfully as well by the Iranian regime: “Regions like Balochistan have been most effected for a lack of information. There has been no information in the Baloch language on what is the pandemic and how you can protect yourself from it. They expelled Afghans and left them in Balochistan. They had many Shia pilgrims and when they stopped the flights, they sent them to Balochistan. They were stuck there for Pakistan closed their border. There is no village or family that has not been affected by the coronavirus. They continue to oppress the Baloch people. They killed a teenager in front of his mother in their home. It is something that they always do. They come to kill the rebels and engage in extrajudicial killings. The people do not have access to hospitals. In Balochistan, we do not even have facilities. In Ahwaz, the Ahwaz people do not have access to them, but others in the area do. But we do not have proper facilities for them period. Balochistan is very important for Iran. They want China to sign a contract to build facilities in Balochistan. As a result, they have confiscated more land. They have destroyed and burned down homes at this time during the pandemic, and they did not replace them. They just notified that the homes were destroyed for China wants facilities there.”
In Iranian Kurdistan, the people are also suffering as well. Hoshyar Waissi, who is a member of the Kurdistan Independence Movement, declared, “They have been trying to eliminate Kurdistan. The ongoing repression and discrimination have led to the prohibition of speaking Kurdish, wearing traditional dress and teaching Kurdish in the schools. They are also not allowed to participate in elections and to partake in the parliament unless they accept the current system. The economy is impoverished, leading to Kurdish men becoming koybars, transferring goods over rocky mountains. They are often executed. The Iranian regime has always tried to impoverish the Kurds.”
It is well-documented that under Turkish and Iranian influence, Kurds are being ethnically cleansed from Northern Syria. However, what is lesser known is that the Kurds are not the only minority to fall victim to the Iranian regime’s proxies in Syria. According to a report that was recently written by the Safadi Center, the Syrian government under the patronage of Iran has denied the Druze community in Al Suwayda and other eastern villages the basic human right to clean drinking water, to attend school and to obtain aid provided by the international community: “The seriously dangerous threat of ISIS is still looming as we speak in the areas around the Eastern Villages. Many locals witnessed movements of ISIS groups in that region recently. Testimonies clearly point fingers to the Syrian Authorities and the State Officials in the Governorate of Swaida; accusing them of intentionally denying most basic needs to these Eastern Villages, failing to provide the most basic constitutional rights to the citizens that are trying to survive there by their own means.”
“This failure was not limited to one but rather included all vital basic needs of livelihood (such as electrical power, drinking and irrigation water, education, and health),” the Safadi Center report proclaimed. “Thus, the Syrian Authorities and officials of the Governorate of Swaida are the ones to be blamed for the displacement and forced demographic change of the Eastern Villages. Therefore, the local population of Swaida, the International Community, and International Courts are expected to shoulder the full responsibility to hold them accountable for this severe and intentional negligence towards the civilians in these villages. The fact that these villages were under a vicious terrorist attack by ISIS before (the massacre of Eastern Villages in Swaida), and the constant threat of repeating attacks, leave no room for doubt that said displacement and negligence are part of the direct support and facilitation services the terrorist militias enjoy.”
Even though everyone is more internally focused at this time, it would behoove the international community to provide some kind of assistance to minorities in Iran and Syria, who are suffering immensely amid the coronavirus pandemic and to make sure that it gets to the people rather than the regimes that repress them. As Boladai noted, the minorities in Iran are allies of the West, who can be counted upon: “We do not want another religious government in Iran. We want a government based on freedom and human rights for the people. Minorities can help with democratization. The national minorities in Iran are a democratic force that will see that Iran develops in a way that is responsible to the international community. We have no desire to attack Israel or expand to Karbala. The minorities are a large part of the population. 70 percent of the students who start school in Iran do not speak mother tongue Persian. They are a large population in Iran and a force for democratic change.” The same can be said about the Druze and the Kurds in Syria, who fought bravely against ISIS. Therefore, the time has come for the community of nations to hear their cries and to do something to help them.