Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to strongly condemn last Saturday's brutal and senseless rocket attack on Camp Hurriya, formerly known as Camp Liberty, near Baghdad that killed and injured camp residents. Two innocent people were killed and over 70 injured. On Saturday, 15 June 2013 over 40 107 millimetre missiles were fired into Camp Hurriya. Residents who were killed and wounded were in shelters whose protective T-walls had been transferred out of the camp by the government of Iraq.

This is the second deadly attack on Camp Hurriya this year. The first, on 9 February, claimed the lives of eight people and left scores injured. The more than 3,000 residents of the camp are men, women and children who are refugees from neighbouring Iraq. They and their families have suffered oppression, torture and murder at the hands of the Iranian regimes. Due to inaction and indolence at the highest level of the Iraqi government, they are trapped in unsafe, unsanitary and dangerous conditions with little prospect of resettlement and safety in third countries.

The Iraqi government is not taking effective action to protect the residents of Camp Hurriya. The question needs to be asked: how is it that these defenceless civilians can be subjected to rocket attacks while in a secure former military zone under the protection of the Iraqi government? The situation of camp residents is becoming increasingly dangerous as al-Qaeda and Iraqi Sunni extremists seek to revive sectarian conflict across Iraq. Residents are further in danger by the increasing fragility of the region, including the deteriorating situation in Syria and the increasingly aggressive and dangerous regional ambitions of the mullah regime in Iran. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that the attack on camp residents was on the same day that the result of the election of the new president of the Iranian regime was announced.

The continuing attacks on Camp Hurriya residents have drawn condemnation from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Canadian government, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Vice-President of the European parliament. Our foreign minister, Senator Carr, has condemned the attacks and called on the government of Iraq to take immediate steps to ensure the security of Camp Hurriya residents.

I call on the government of Iraq to render all possible medical assistance to the victims and ensure the safety of the camp's residents, consistent with its international commitments and obligations. I also call on the government of Iraq to investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice. I also call on the UN to ensure that everything within their power is done not only to ensure the safety of Camp Hurriya and its residents but also to win the confidence of the Iraqi people that their human rights will be protected against oppressive elements in Iraq and from across the border in Iran. Every step must be taken by the government of Iraq and the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq to implement the 25 December 2011 agreement to quickly relocate the residents of Camp Hurriya outside Iraq. There must be a permanent and long-term solution that ensures their safety.

Finally, I would like to express my admiration for the work of the Camp Hurriya residents' tireless advocates here in Australia. Principal amongst them is Mohammed Sadeghpour. I have met with him many times since least 2010 and I never fail to be impressed with his humanity, his boundless patience and his deep and abiding commitment to justice and the freedom of his people.

This is an international disgrace. This is a situation that must be fixed. Australia has a responsibility as we have engaged in military activity in Iraq, and we have a responsibility to ensure that these defenceless civilians are provided protection from the UN and the international community.