Berivan Dosky came to London from the Kurdish area of Iraq in 1990, after fleeing the genocide campaigns against the Kurds. She is Director of the Kurdish Housing Association, and is also active as a poet.
It was in spring 1988, it was during the genocide campaign called Anfal against--, committed against the Kurdish people by the Iraqi regime, then a very large area was surrounded. A very, very large area was surrounded and the army and the collaborators of the Iraqi regime was coming forward and capturing everybody they--, they see, the civilians, the freedom fighters, children, elderly, woman, anybody they see, they are--, they were capturing.
By the way this campaign called Anfal campaign and until today, about 182,000 people, their fate is still unknown, whom they were captured by, the Iraqi regime members, during that campaign and are still their fate is unknown but presumed dead.
Their number exceeds 182,000, so it was during that campaign when this very large area was surrounded and the army and collaborators, the authority members were marching towards these liberated areas and capturing anybody they see, even the civilians, the villages and taking them somewhere nobody knows where they are, there are rumours that some young woman have been sold to other Arab countries, all these mass graves that they were found, some of them are--, were found with Kurdish of course clothes, Kurdish costumes, that means that probably some of them are the people who have been called through these campaigns--.
So it was during that campaign that the authority members were approaching and we had to flee so I had to go and carrying my son and not having anybody while I had another woman and her children with me and the woman and her children and it was myself and my son and so we were heading towards Iran, it was spring so the mountains were still covered with snow, it was very cold.
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