Despite rampant presence of snakes, scorpions, and insects, the Committee to repress Ashraf residents prevents using pesticides in Camp Liberty
While it is almost three months since the first convoy of Ashraf residents arrived in Camp Liberty, the Iraqi government, in order to put the residents under pressure and for repressing them, still prevents the use of pesticides in the camp and the residents have to deal with the problem of snakes, scorpions, and vermin constantly.
In the morning of Tuesday May, 8, a resident of Camp Liberty was stung by a poisonous scorpion and due to severity of the poison, physicians had to transfer him to a hospital in Baghdad. On two previous occasions on February 27 and April 9, the residents encountered poisonous vipers in the trailers and residence quarters. Yet, despite numerous requests of the residents to the representatives of the Iraqi government and of the United Nations, brining in pesticides to the camp has been prevented.
The Director of the representative group of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Baghdad , subsequent to seeing the footage of the viper in the trailer of the residents, in a letter addressed to the UNHCR and the residents on April 10, 2012 stated “ this kind of snake is venomous” and in the case of stinging a person, “if that person would not be treated immediately, it could cause the death of the patient in a few minutes“.
In addition to the pollution of the environment and the need to spray the camp with pesticides, the decadence of the trailers and the camp’s sewage system has provided a suitable environment for the growth and the reproduction of these pests. Yet, the Iraqi government in the breach of the Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) that it has signed with the U.N., is preventing the renovation and even repair of these facilities.
The Iranian resistance draws the attention of the UN Secretary General, his Special Representatives in Iraq, the UNHCR, and the WHO to the lack of health and hygiene standards at Camp Liberty and the Government of Iraq’s prevention of any steps for the improvement the conditions at the camp and calls for immediate intervention to put an end this disastrous situation.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 8, 2012
