ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Kurdish asylum seeker from Iran died Sunday night due to his burns less than a week after he set himself on fire in front of the UN office in Erbil, medical sources confirmed.
Behzad Mahmoudi, a 25-year-old asylum seeker, set himself on fire on Tuesday in front of the United Nations refugee organization (UNHCR) in protest over his living conditions. He was taken to an area hospital with severe burns.
Erbil police spokesperson Hogir Aziz confirmed Mahmoudi’s death, telling Rudaw, “Unfortunately, the man from east Kurdistan who set himself on fire in front of the UN died.”
Speaking to Rudaw from the hospital, Mahmoudi said he needed help from the UNHCR because he was living in dire circumstances and unable to find work.
“They have to help me,” Mahmoudi said. “We have no work, no money, and our only hope is the UN. The UN doesn’t answer us, this is our right.”
The UN responded to the incident in a statement on Thursday, saying they were “saddened by the tragic incident” and were closely following Mahmoudi’s condition.
The asylum seeker’s self-immolation sparked protests from other Kurdish refugees from Iran two days after the incident.
Protestors demanded their rights, including the resolution of their cases of political asylum, relocation abroad, and housing in camps or residential areas until their resettlement abroad. They also demanded the organization of “a just system, without discrimination.”
A protestor at Thursday’s demonstration, Rasul Rahim Pirot, said, “We haven’t been helped here at all, the Kurds of Rojhelat (Kurdish areas of Iran) haven’t received help here.”
“The people who are here, they are here because of the crimes and the terrorism of the Islamic Republic,” said Ali Khawali, a representative of the protestors.
Video of Mahmoudi’s self-immolation quickly circulated on social media and many were outraged that reporters filmed the man setting himself on fire instead of intervening.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) issued a statement expressing their sorrow over the incident and criticized the media coverage.
There are more than 10,700 refugees from Iran registered with the UNHCR in Iraq, with the vast majority in the Kurdistan Region, Firas al-Khateeb, a spokesperson for the organization told Rudaw on Friday in an interview.
Reporting by Farhad Dolomari, Bahroz Faraidoon
