In April 1991 an international coalition started the operation 'Safe Haven' in northern
Iraq.
This humanitarian mission was the immediate reaction
to the exodus of large parts of the kurdish population. Fearing attacks from Saddam
Hussein’s Baathistian government forces, many fled north towards the Turkish and
Iranian borders. The missions’ goal was not only to supply nearly 500.000 people with
essential goods, it
also established a no fight zone, granting sustainable protection for the Kurds.
After years of persecution and repression the coalitions’ intervention meant nothing less
then
a unforseen break in the areas’ history which finally established the Kurdistan
Autonomous Region of Iraq [KR-I].
