Iraq and UN sign Iranian 'Camp Ashraf' exile deal

20:48, 26 December 2011

BAGHDAD. December 26. KAZINFORM Iraq and the United Nations have agreed to re-settle more than 3,000 Iranian exiles who have been based at a refugee camp in Baghdad since the 1980s, BBC reported.

The residents of Camp Ashraf were part of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, which fought alongside Iraqi soldiers during the Iran-Iraq war.

The deal has been welcomed by the US, which handed responsibility for the camp to Iraq in 2009.

Iraq's Shia-led government has repeatedly vowed to close Camp Ashraf.

But under the terms of the deal signed with the UN late on Sunday, camp residents would be moved to a temporary location where their refugee status would then be determined by the UN. The UN says this is a necessary first step before exiles are finally re-settled outside Iraq.

"The UNHCR will immediately deploy a team at the new location to proceed with the verification and adjudication of the claims for refugee status it had received," the statement said.

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