AhwazWomens Commission

Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights participation in international women day conference in London

The Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights has received invitation by “Evelyn Oldfield Unit” organization for participation in international women day on Thursday the 8th of March 2018.

The Evelyn Oldfield Unit and members of its Research for Action and Influence Project has hosted a networking event and a panel discussion on the stoic accomplishments of refugee women activists in London on Thursday 8th March, in celebration of International Women’s Day.

The refugee crisis – Syrian or otherwise – has dominated the news headlines in recent years, with the spotlight on death, destruction, and decay. Despite the very gender-blind asylum policy, refugee women from all over the world have shown resilience in rebuilding their lives in their receiving countries.
This panel invites the attendee to explore the side of the refugee crisis with hope and high esteem of a better future, not only for refugee women but for our communities to live in peace and harmony.
Looking at the impact of conflicts and war on women, with reference to the experiences of refugee women from Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Al-Ahwaz and Yemen , attendees had an opportunity to ask questions about how we can work together towards justice, human rights and participation for women who seek sanctuary in the UK.

the Speakers are :

1st Panel: Majeda Korbni from Syria , Sema Nassar from Syria, Lina Mani from Syria

2nd  Panel :Fawzia Alwaji from Iraq , Muna Al-Harazi from Yemen, Selsabil Amine from Algeria

3rd Panel: Kholoud Maramazi from Al-Ahwaz.

 

The Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights speech is as follows:

 

Ladies and gentlemen

I am Kholoud Maramazi representing the Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights.

It is a pleasure to be here today, as an Ahwazi Arab women, along with other strong women celebrating international women’s day and standing up for women’s rights.

Ahwazi women have been subject to a great amount of abuse towards their basic human rights. They are denied the opportunity of living freely and have no voice within their communities. For example, Ma’edeh Amouri, a young 15-year-old girl was arrested by the intelligence service in mid-October 2017 for speaking about Ahwazi women’s rights and later released, after a heavy financial bail and on terms that she would no longer speak in favour of Ahwazi Arab suffering. Recently on the 25th of January 2018 Ma’edeh was taken away from her family, and to this day, there is still no news about where she is and what is happening to her. This shows that Ahwazi women, even as young as 15 years old, are punished and threatened when speaking the truth.

Furthermore, Ahwazi women do not have the opportunities to develop within their education and employment due to the expectations placed on their duty within the family structure. They are limited to what they can do and how they are to live their lives, leading to forced marriages where girls are married at a young age because they have no other choice in life.

Today, while celebrating women’s rights, I also hope to raise awareness about the suffering and oppression still faced today by Ahwazi Arab Women. It is an important issue as we are living at a time were, although we think things have changed and are getting better, Ahwazi women and women in many other countries are still denied the opportunity to live the life they want, and instead, are excluded from vital and basic rights and privileges.

To conclude, I would like to thank the Evelyn Oldfield Unit for giving me the opportunity to speak about Ahwazi women, and I would like to congratulate those in attendance today for speaking out and empowering women and their rights.

I feel that more can and should be done for women as they play a vital role in the world.

Thank you and happy international women’s day.

To watch the video please click Here.

To watch the Q & A taken place please click Here.

Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights

08-March-2018

 

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