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Concern is growing in Washington about the protection of the rights of Iranians in Albania

Politiko 2023-08-02 16:19:48

Concern is growing in Washington about the protection of the rights of Iranians

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on July 26 to discuss several pending nominations for State Department positions, including that of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Committee Chairman Robert Menendez raised the issue of people seeking refuge in his area of ​​concern and specifically referred to a community of about 3,000 Iranian emigrants who have resided in Albania over the past few years, writes eurereporter.co  . 

"On June 20, the Albanian government raided Camp Ashraf 3," Menendez said, adding that there were "different accounts" of the raid.

According to news reports, one resident was killed in the raid and several others suffered injuries that required hospitalization. Albania agreed to host thousands of members of Iran's main opposition movement, the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), starting several years ago.

Menendez appeared skeptical about the motives for the raid when he raised the issue at Wednesday's hearing. On the one hand, he expressed gratitude to Albania for agreeing to help relocate MEK members from the former Camp Liberty US military base in Iraq, where they were under repeated attack at the behest of the Iranian regime. But on the other hand, he stressed that "if you're looking for shelter, ultimately you have to be in a position to know that shelter is safe."

Nominee James Obrienu agreed on both counts, saying: "I join you in assessing Albania, which has been a very important place of refuge for a number of people seeking asylum." She went on to promise to review the Ashraf 3 raid and report to the Foreign Relations Committee on its findings, pending work with the committee going forward.

Asked by Menendez if he would be "committed to protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of the residents of Camp Ashraf," Obrien replied, "Absolutely."

Several other US lawmakers have also expressed concern for the safety of Ashraf 3 residents, often linking these to the issue of international support for pro-democracy protests in Iran, which have been particularly visible since last September.

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