March 16 marks the twelfth anniversary of the massacre of Kurdish people in Halabja, in north-east Iraq. Madhi Kalka, a Kurdish journalist now living in Perth, has written an account of the events and their aftermath and spoke to Green Left Weekly.
Kurdistan is an occupied land; its 30 million people are spread across Northern Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria, and have been subject to fierce repression and genocide by all four governments.
"In 1986, the Iraqi regime began testing chemical weapons on political prisoners. In 1988 the Iraqi regime used those chemical weapons against the Kurdish people," Kalka recalls.
"On March 16, 1988, a week before Newroz [Kurdish New Year], people were busy preparing for the big celebration unaware that what was about to occur was not just the destruction of their town and celebrations, but the total annihilation of all of them.
"Two Iraqi planes appeared in the sky over the city carrying their deadly cargo of dozens of chemical bombs filled with cyanide and gas. They dropped their bombs on these defenceless people without mercy. Soon after, a deadly white haze filled the air and 5000 people were killed in a matter of minutes.
"A further 12,000 people were injured and many more later died in refugee camps prepared by Saddam [Hussein]'s army. On March 17 and 18, Iraqi planes bombed all the roads and villages surrounding Halabja. Kurdish now refer to Halabja as Halabshima, after Hiroshima."
Later, the army dug mass graves and buried over 1000 people. A Kurdish doctor sent a letter to a relative stating, "Don't look for us anywhere: we are the victims of genocide".
According to Kalka, "Human rights are routinely violated in Kurdistan. In many places, we are forbidden from speaking our language, singing our songs and passing on our culture. We want the right to preserve and maintain our culture and to be afforded our basic human rights. We don't have freedom."
Many Kurds are now seeking asylum in Australia, although few have received a warm welcome from the Australian government, which contests their right to come. "We come to escape persecution, to save our lives," Kalka said.