The Silent War
Many Iranian Kurds joining Peshmerga
Iranian Kurds are fleeing persecution from their homeland. But making the perilous journey to Iraq is only the first step in their dream of a secular, democratic Iran: for many, the next step is joining the Peshmerga.
The journey from Iran to Kurdish Iraq is highly dangerous. But many young Kurds are fleeing to join the 'peshmerga', Kurdish military forces: 'We asked for our rights. instead we got bullets in the head', says one student recruit who escaped from Tehran. Many of the recruits are women escaping Iran's oppressive gender rules. 'Women have no rights. I didn't come here for myself. I came here for my friends. To free them', says one recruit. Komala, the Kurdish organisation helping people escape says it wants to help establish a secular Iran. 'People come to be peshmerga from a society ruled by the Iranian regime. It's collapsed educationally, socially and economically. Komala is trying to give them back their identity', says one peshmerga leader.
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