Iranian Kurdish refugees watch the elections - in pictures

The Iran presidential election was won by hardline cleric and head of Iran’s judiciary Ebrahimi Raisi

Moustafa Ibrahim, 67, an Iranian Kurd refugee, and his family in their home at Bahrka refugee camp, 10 kilometres west of Erbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. AFP

Iranian Kurd refugees at Bahrka refugee camp. They have been stuck in Iraq for decades due to a lack of documents. AFP

An Iranian Kurd refugee tends to her plants at the Bahrka refugee camp. Residents in the camp watched on as elections took place this week in Iran. AFP

Children play in Bahrka refugee camp. Few residents believed the election, which was won by hardline cleric and head of Iran’s judiciary Ebrahim Raisi, would change their plight. AFP

Sawen Goran Zada, 29, an Iranian Kurd refugee, sits with her husband at Bahrka refugee camp. Residents say economic and political hardships make life there very difficult. AFP

Children and a dog in Bahrka camp. Erbil grants the refugees residency permits which allow them to work and travel within the autonomous region, if they find a guarantor. However, Baghdad does not recognise their validity. AFP

There are now more than 10,700, Kurdish refugees in Iraq, the vast majority in the autonomous Kurdistan region. AFP

Some inhabitants in the camp have been political refugees in Iraq for 40 years. AFP

Moustafa Ibrahim, 67, an Iranian Kurd refugee sits for an interview at Bahrka refugee camp. Resident Behzad Mahmoudi set himself on fire last month in front of a UN office in Erbil, the draw attention to the refugees' plight. AFP

An Iranian Kurd refugee poses for a picture at Bahrka refugee camp. Baghdad refuses to grant citizenship to Iranian refugees, meaning the only way out is to obtain asylum in a third country. AFP

An Iranian Kurd refugee child at Bahrka refugee camp. Few asylum applications are accepted by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, meaning residents remain stuck in limbo. AFP

The National

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Updated: June 19, 2021, 9:25 AM