Economic woes lead Iran asylum seeker to set himself on fire in Iraq

A Kurdish asylum seeker from Iran set himself on fire yesterday in front of the UN office in Kurdish Iraq’s Erbil.

Twenty-five-year-old Behzad Mahmoudi was protesting against the harsh economic and living condition he was living under in northern Iraq. He poured petrol over his body and set himself alight, suffering burns to 91 per cent of his body. He is now in a critical condition in hospital.

“They have to help me. We have no work, no money and our only hope is the UN and the UN doesn’t answer us. It is our right,” Mahmoudi told Rudaw news site.

He added that he had previously asked the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for help but none had been offered.

In a statement to Rudaw, a spokesperson for the UN mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said they are “shocked and saddened with the whole incident and on behalf of the United Nations family in Iraq, wish the young man a speedy recovery.”

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