35th anniversary of the no fly zone in Iraqi Kurdistan

That this House marks the 35th anniversary of Sir John Major’s pioneering plan, devised swiftly in March and April 1990, for a no fly-zone and safe haven in Iraqi Kurdistan that almost certainly averted further genocide by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds and ended a humanitarian crisis of widespread disease and death in the frozen mountains on the border of Iran and Turkey; agrees with the former Prime Minister’s view that genocide was in Saddam’s mind, and it was certainly in the man’s character; notes that the Prime Minister’s bold initiative was encouraged by public horror at the televised scenes of misery, organised campaigns to collect provisions for over a million people sheltering in the mountains, cross-party outrage in parliament, and the assiduous lobbying of Iraqi Kurds; further notes that this enabled democratic elections the following year and the formation of a now semi-autonomous region that is officially recognised in the Iraqi constitution and internationally; further notes that this British action underpins a strong and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship between the UK and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; and welcomes Safe Haven, a play by Chris Bowers, a former UK Consul-General in Iraqi Kurdistan that weaves narratives of political decision-making together with stories of Kurdish endurance in a compelling exploration of courage, conscience and humanitarian intervention and which is being performed at the Arcola theatre in January and February.