News: US Immigration Law and Refugees

Some days ago, this blog reported on the denial of permanent residency for Saman Kareem Ahmad, an Iraqi translator who worked for the US Marine Corps in Iraq. The denial was based on the premise that Ahmad had been part of an "undesginated terrorist organization," or the armed wing of the KDP, a Kurdish political party in Iraq that was a foe of Saddam Hussein. Joanne Mariner, of FindLaw, elucidates the legal framework that has kept Ahmad, and others like him, from living permanently in the US:

"Was George Washington a terrorist?" asked Bill Frelick, Human Rights Watch's refugee policy director, only semi-facetiously.

What sparked his question was the exceedingly broad definition of terrorist activity employed in U.S. immigration law. That definition, as expanded in the USA PATRIOT Act and REAL ID Act, applies to "any activity which is unlawful under the laws of the place where it is committed," when that activity involves the use of a weapon or "dangerous device" with the intent "to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property."

The patent unfairness of this broad ban has garnered congressional attention and, as of last year, the problem was supposed to have been remedied. In December, Congress passed legislation that broadened executive authority to grant waivers to deserving refugees who would otherwise be barred under the law's overly broad "terrorism"-related bans.

Mariner goes on to recommend use of waivers, which are handled on a case by case basis, and eventually, a redefinition of the broad clause defining terrorist activity.

The good news, that Matthew of this blog has reported, is that the US immigration services will temporarily stop the denial of green cards for dissidents, such as Ahmad.

Hat tip: The Ground Truth in Iraq blog.

In Focus: Human Smuggling

One underreported consequence of the Iraqi refugee crisis is the expansion of human smuggling rings. Smugglers typically bring Iraqi refugees through the Middle East and into Southern or Central Europe where they proceed to Scandinavian countries who typically have generous asylum laws and large welfare apparatuses. However, as the ABC News blog, The Blotter, has reported, even US-Mexican smuggling rings are getting a piece of the action by importing Iraqis over the Rio Grande river.

As the lot of Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan worsens, being smuggled to Europe may seem like a viable, albeit expensive and risky, option. Deborah Amos has written an excellent article in Slate that explains:

Every Iraqi [in Syria] knows someone who has made it out by the smuggling routes. They also know someone who has been arrested on arrival or cheated out of his or her life savings for a chance at escape. But the underground route is a gamble those Iraqis who can afford it are willing to take.

Greece has become the preferred destination. Sweden was once considered the safest haven, but in February, the Swedish government rejected 72 percent of Iraqi asylum applicants. This winter, Sweden signed an agreement with the Iraqi government to allow forced repatriation, and more than 11,000 Iraqis are likely to be sent back to Baghdad after their asylum claims are rejected. The backlog of Iraqis is still flowing through the illegal pipeline. A new U.N. report shows that Iraqis were the largest group seeking asylum in the European Union.

According to the Norwegian paper, Aftenposten, now that Sweden is tightening Iraqi asylum policies, many smugglers are also directing Iraqis towards Norway.

Indeed, the risks for trusting these smuggling rings are many and dangerous. According to a smuggler working in Jordan who charges about $3,000 per person, an Iraqi who uses his services will first travel to Syria from Jordan, then to Turkey where they board a boat to Greece, take another boat to Italy from where they are driven to Germany and eventually board trucks heading for Scandinavia. According to the same article:

But the process is not as simple as it sounds, says Ali Abdellahi, a Kurdish-Swede who was smuggled to Sweden via a similar route in the mid-1990s. Abdellahi was imprisoned with little food by the smugglers in Greece, and had to swim half way to the Italian coast where he was picked up by the local police and taken into a refugee camp (where he was eventually smuggled out by a member of another smuggling network).

News: A Wider Application of Waivers?

Following up on a story featured on this blog on Monday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reversed course-- at least temporarily-- on rejecting green cards to refugees affiliated with groups that have, "sought to topple foreign dictatorships." As Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post reports:

The catalyst for yesterday's decision, Scharfen and other officials said, was a Washington Post article last weekend about a translator for U.S. forces in Iraq. Saman Kareem Ahmad, 38, arrived in the United States under a special visa program for those assisting the nation's war effort, after his life was threatened in Iraq. He had received commendations from the secretary of the Navy and then-Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, now the top U.S. commander in Iraq, as well as strong support from Marine and Army officers with whom he had worked. Ahmad was later granted political asylum, but his application for permanent residence was denied last month on grounds he had once served with Kurdish military forces that fought against Hussein.

Read the article from the Post in its entirety.

The glimmer of hope here is that waivers, which up until recently had seldom been used, will take on a more prominent role in streamlining part of the immigration process for Iraqi allies. Still, USCIS admits that correcting this single deficiency "could be a cumbersome process." Indeed, as pointed out by Human Rights First, this process has been slow-moving for quite some time despite the efforts of some lawmakers.

And while waivers offer some hope for the few who have already made it to the U.S., it still fails to address what is preventing so many Iraqi allies from reaching America in the first place.

Corruption Deprives Displaced Iraqis from Financial Help

Azzaman newspaper, one of Iraq’s most read papers, had an article yesterday that talked about corruption being the reason why the Iraqi displaced families are not receiving the compensation allocated by the Iraqi government to help them cope with the situation.

“The ministry noticed that 25 checks, which were prepared to compensate the displaced families in Baghdad, were stolen,” said Saad Sultan, the general manager of Human Affairs office in the ministry of Human Rights. He said that the ministry has formed a committee to investigate. [Our experience with this government and the one before, forming a committee means the issue will be forgotten and the money will never come back.]

In addition to more than two million Iraqis displaced outside Iraq in neighboring and regional countries, there are over two million Iraqis who are displaced within the country. They are either Sunnis who lived in Shiite neighborhoods and were forced out by Shiite militias, or Shiites who lived in Sunni neighborhoods and were forced out by Sunni insurgents to make room for the displaced Sunnis.

Sultan also said that there are more than 200 checks awaiting families to go and receive them.

I know why the families don’t go to receive their money: in order to receive the money, they have to present names of family members, current addresses and former address. Of course, the names will give up the family religious background, the addresses will give a place for the militias, which are backed by the current government, to go and target the families. Therefore, the families are afraid to ask for their money.

News: Green card Denied for Strong Ally

The Washington Post has recently reported that a once trusted Iraqi translator for the US Marine Corps in Iraq has now been denied a green card, or permanent residency, in the US. Saman Kareem Ahmad, who was reportedly one of the the first Iraqi translators to wear the Marine Corps uniform and risk his life due to his occupation, was denied US permanent residency because he was once part of the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Party, or KDP, which is one of the two largest Kurdish political parties in Iraq.

Ahmad, a Kurd, once served in the KDP's military force, which is part of the new
Iraqi army. A U.S. ally, the KDP is now part of the elected government of the
Kurdish region and holds seats in the Iraqi parliament. After consulting public
Web sites, however, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined that KDP forces "conducted full-scale armed attacks and helped incite rebellions against
Hussein's regime, most notably during the Iran-Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom."

This denial was made by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, previously the Immigration and Naturalization Services, which is now under the Department of Homeland Security. According to the article, the information the immigration services used to deny the green card was obtained from the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism; a group that is bankrolled by the Department of Homeland Security.

This permanent residency denial smacks of complete terror threat paranoia at best or a willful effort to deny help to Iraqi allies at worst. The rationale given is that the KDP force is an "undesignated terrorist organization," yet there is no evidence that Ahmad is an enemy of the US, but plenty of evidence to prove quite the opposite. The KDP is and has been an ally of the US and since each case is considered individually, it is baffling that Ahmad has been rejected permanent residency in the country for whose army and government he has worked and risked his life.

Falling through the Cracks, or a Gaping Hole

The Washington Post has a somber story of an Iraqi Interpreter whose Green Card application was recently rejected by the United States government. Saman Kareem Ahmad has spent the last four years 0f his life Interpreting in Iraq for the United States.

Working with Marines in Al Anbar province, Ahmad began receiving a slew of death threats, like so many Iraqis who have worked for the U.S. before him. He was lucky. His Marine colleagues helped him obtain a visa Application and was flown to the U.S. , where he was granted political asylum.

One of the Interesting pieces of the article was a statement made by one of Saman's Marine comrade in arms:

"Retired Marine Capt. Jason P. Schauble, who returned from Iraq in 2004 after being wounded, is Ahmad's official sponsor. In a letter he appended last week to Ahmad's immigration file, Schauble condemned whatever "faceless bureaucracy" rejected the application. "I don't know what a foreigner has to do that is greater than what Saman Ahmad has done in service to his American allies," Schauble wrote"

Being one of the few Iraqis granted political asylum in the U.S., makes this an even more gut wrenching story, for it showcases the governments inability to untie the massive knot of bureaucracy and showcase a responsibility to people who count on this country the most.
For even when Iraqi refugees are allowed into the United States, there is no definite guarantee that they will be allowed to stay, whether , it be for permanent residence as in Saman's case, or be it waiting out the violence and the death threats, the murder of family and friends, in order to one day return to their former lives, and pick up the pieces which have been strewn about by war and insurgency, so that they may live again.
This is what we owe the Iraqi Interpreters and all those Iraqis who sacrificed for the U.S. war effort, not to mention the millions of other Iraqis who have been displaced: The ability to live in peace, to not have to wake up to bombs, mortars, or the sound of bullets, to not have to live in the small and sequestered quarters of a refugee camp, and to not have to be a member of a diaspora which has been scattered throughout much of the globe, and has few prospects for return, except for that same damned bureaucracy that has been holding it down in the first place.

News: "UNHCR criticizes Sweden's Iraqi refugee policy"

The Local has recently reported on new developments in Swedish Iraqi refugee policy:

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Tuesday criticized Sweden's policy of deporting rejected Iraqi asylum seekers to the southern and central regions of their home country.
Since July 2007, Swedish immigration authorities have ruled that Iraqis from the southern and central regions of the country have to prove they are personally threatened in their country to be given residency.
The UN agency criticized, among other things, the fact that the agreement makes no distinction about whether the rejected asylum seekers come from the northern parts of Iraq, or the more volatile southern and central parts.

Sweden has been very accepting of Iraqi refugees, but now seems to be slowly pulling back the welcome mat. While Sweden has been the most gracious Western country in this crisis, perhaps it has overextended and has realized it cannot support the thousands of Iraqi refugees it currently hosts. However, for the sake of these Iraqis lives, perhaps Sweden ought to allow these refugees stay until a robust solution to this crisis takes hold. Hopefully, the US will take the lead in the next presidential administration.

Washington Post Chat: The Iraqi Refugee Crisis

As part of a five-year retrospective on the Iraq War, the Washington Post hosted an internet chat with Kristele Younes of Refugees International to discuss the plight of displaced Iraqis. Ms. Younes recently returned from visits to Jordan and Syria where she assessed the situation of Iraqi refugees (read her report).

During the wide ranging and informative internet discussion, Ms. Younes tackled a variety of key topics related to the refugee crisis.

On the delay in processing Special Immigrant Visas (SIV):

The Kennedy legislation- increasing the visas to 5,000 -- and its adoption by Congress are definitely positive steps. It is now up to the administration to implement the legislation and ensure it devotes the resources needed for it. Refugees International, as for other advocacy groups, will continue watching. Congress too is watching, and the administration is obliged by law to report to Congress on its progress with the implementation.

On the danger faced by those returning to Iraq:

According to the UNHCR, the conditions in Iraq are absolutely not conducive to return for the moment. This position is supported by the U.S. State Department. Refugees International strongly believes that return should not be encouraged until Iraqis can go home, on their own free will, in safety and dignity.

Obviously, we all hope that Iraqis will be able to return one day. But those who have returned in the last few months- forced to do so because they could no longer survive in exile- have mostly been unable to return to their homes. Seventy percent became internally displaced. Some were attacked or killed. In these conditions, return is not only dangerous for the displaced, it also adds to the potential for increased instability and violence.

And, on what America can do to help out:

It is essential the American public engages on this issue. As this is an electoral year, Americans need to ask all candidates to come up with a plan to deal with the humanitarian crisis. This is a bipartisan issue, and should concern us all. We need to increase assistance to the U.N. and to the region, increase resettlement numbers, increase U.S. engagement in the Middle East, and work on ensuring that whatever military course the U.S. takes in Iraq, it will consider the humanitarian consequences and ensure that civilians will be protected against further violence.

To learn more about what was discussed, read the full transcript.

News: Front page WSJ -- "5 Years Later, a Nation of Refugees"

The Wall Street Journal ran a front page story on Monday about the Iraqi refugee crisis. Accompanying the story was an excellent interactive map showing where the refugees are distributed throughout the region and the world. The article begins as many others do on the subject:

BAGHDAD -- Five years ago, Enas Abood exulted over Saddam Hussein's overthrow from her comfortable three-story home. Her husband found a job with the U.S. military and started bringing home a handsome paycheck, along with American candy for their son. "We started to see a light at the end of tunnel," says Ms. Abood. "But this light did not last for long." As the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion approaches this Wednesday, she and her three children live in a shabby rental in a Baghdad slum. Ms. Abood often goes hungry to feed her kids and survives on handouts. Her husband, unhappy and unemployed, took off two months ago. She hasn't seen him since... far more common still is Ms. Abood's journey from middle-class prosperity to transient poverty... An estimated four million Iraqis -- over 14% of the country's population -- have been displaced inside Iraq or to neighboring countries, largely due to the chaotic aftermath of the American-led invasion that began on March 19, 2003.

Prior to the invasion, about one million Iraqis were internally displaced by conflicts and by policies of Saddam Hussein to move certain ethnic groups. But aid agencies say more than two million citizens are now displaced inside the country, largely because of sectarian violence -- infighting between the Sunni and Shia Muslim sects -- or fighting between insurgents and U.S. troops. About 60% of the displaced are children.

You can see that map feature by clicking here. It really is a must-see and a very useful tool.

Conference to discuss the Iraqi Refugees Issue in Amman, Jordan

In a conference held in Amman, Jordan today, officials from Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon discussed the issue of Iraqi refugees and the ways to provide more help for the neglected population in these countries. Officials from the UN, EU, Turkey and Iran attended as observers.
Like any other Arab countries conferences, this one was ended by issuing a statement urging the Iraqi government to “work on, and achieve, national unity and provide the right environment for the Iraqi refugees to return to their homes.” And one must wonder: So, what exactly are the Iraqi refugees going to get, after all those countries gathered under the name of Iraqi refugees and claiming to be working on finding ways to help them?

Jordan asked for more financial aid for the countries that are hosting Iraqi refugees. The Jordanian minister of foreign affairs told the conference that Jordan has spent more than two billion dollars to help Iraqi refugees in the last three years!

Click here to read more.

When the Iraqi refugees go to Jordan, or any other country in the Middle East, they are not allowed to work. They don’t get free housing, they don’t qualify for health insurance and, until recently, the Iraqi refugees in Jordan were not allowed into the Jordanian school unless they have residency, which is very hard to get, if at all possible. The Iraqis have to spend their savings to live outside Iraq. Except for Syria, none of the hosting countries give the Iraqis ration food. The Iraqis have to pay as much as any of natives for food. The only different treatment the Iraqis get in the hosting countries is that they have to pay double or triple the rent!

What financial aid is Jordan and the other countries are asking about, and why?

In the conference too, representatives from the hosting countries also “renewed their commitment to support the Iraqi government’s efforts to improve the living standards and security situation inside Iraq, which will allow the refugees to return to their homes.”

One must wonder: What Iraqi government efforts?

When the Syria forced out thousands of Iraqis late last year and refused to renew their legal status in the country, the Iraqi government promised the refugees $800 gift when they return home and to help them go back safe to their neighborhoods. The refugees went back to find themselves homeless and displaced in their own country. They found their houses occupied by militia members and insurgents and were told to not go back to them ever. When they complained to the government, nothing happened. The government did not help them return to their homes. Now they are living with relatives and have no hope to take their properties back. And the $800 promised by the government was a lie!

There are more than two million Iraqis in neighboring and regional countries now and the same number of Iraqis displaced within the country, and the conference concentrated on the idea of: how wonderful it would be if Iraq was stable tomorrow and all the Iraqis will return safe and one piece! Preaching to the choir, if you will!

But the reality on the ground tells us that Iraqi will not be a stable country for a long time. It tells us that the Iraqi refugees have become refugees for a reason; they were all threatened in one way or another. They cannot go back to Iraq anytime soon, or they will be killed. There is no point of saying: If Iraq is a stable country. These are lives of people and the future of hundreds of thousands of children and young and bright Iraqis we are talking about here.

What the Iraqi refugees need now is not a conference to tell them how great it is if they went back to a stable Iraq, because there is no stable Iraq and will not be for a long time. What they need now is either be settled in the hosting countries, and the Iraqi government pays its dues and provide for them [we have oil and we have billions of dollars in the Iraqi government’s budget that are not spent and will not be spent on construction anytime soon], or be sent to a third country, where they can work and provide for themselves.

The refugees include doctors, teachers, engineers, journalists, poets and other intellectuals and professionals. I don’t see the bigger problem now, it will be in 15 and 20 years. When the toddlers now and the generations to come grow up and want to go to school and get education; who is going to teach them? Who is going to lead Iraq in 30 years? Read this.


We keep missing the story. We listen to Jordan officials, Syrian officials, American officials, UN officials and others. But have we listened enough to Iraqis, the Iraqi refugees themselves? Here is a story that we don't hear about very often.

News: The Jordanian Red Crescent and Iraqi Refugee Health

Emily Stivers has posted an excellent report on The Ground Truth in Iraq blog of her visit to a Jordanian Red Crescent medical center:

Iraqi refugees are believed to have extremely high rates of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, owing to their increasing levels of stress and inability to afford decent food. Yet this clinic has no X-rays, no blood-glucose meters, no equipment for radiation or chemotherapy, and very little medication. Just a crude heart monitor, a small oxygen tank and one of those arm bands for taking blood pressure. The doctors find they can do very little for many of the patients who come in.

Jordan to host conference on Iraqi refugees

The Jordan Times reports that Jordan will host a conference dealing with the ever-increasing refugee crisis in the country and throughout the region. Key players in the crisis, those being Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan will convene their respective delegations to dicuss ways in which the humanitarian effort can be increased and streamlined. A delegation from the United Nations as well as the G-8 will also convene to witness the proceedings
Sure to be discussed is idea of the need for the United States to take increasing responsibility for the crisis as well increasing aid to the countries besieged by the problems that go along with caring for hundreds of thousands of displaced peoples.
Jordan has shouldered much of the burden in regards to this crisis, and as the article states: "government and UN officials said Iraqis residing in the Kingdom cost it JD1.6 billion in three years, and despite pledges from the international community, actual financial contributions have been negligible. "
It is very obvious that Jordan does not have the infrastructure to take care of as many as 500000 Iraqi refugees who live in and around Amman, and are becoming increasingly hidered by rising prices and a lack of facilities. It can only be hoped that the international community, most notably the United States will begin to contribe more than they currently have been with regards to this crisis and those which it effects

News Roundup: 3/14/2008

War News Radio has recently reported on the dire conditions of Iraqi refugees living in Syria and Jordan. With interviews with refugees, the piece emphasizes the hardships Iraqi refugees have to face due to decreasing personal funds. The broadcast also mentions the crucial role Jordan's non-refugee employment policy plays in rising poverty and Jordan's power to deport any Iraqi refugee who obtains employment. Consequently, many refugees are forced into menial jobs and employment within the black market. However, there are charitable organizations that ameliorate some of the hardships.

Mercy Corps, an international NGO, has helped deliver aid and social services to refugees in Jordan:

In September, 523 families received a month's worth of dry food delivered to their homes. During the month of Ramadan, which ended October 13, three Iftar tents serving hot meals welcomed an estimated 150 to 200 Iraqis a day. A soup kitchen in Amman serves roughly 300 a day, most of whom are Iraqi refugees.
We've also assisted Iraqi families in registering their children for formal schooling and helped Iraqis gain access to neighborhood social services like psychosocial counseling, youth activities and job-skills training. The agency recently forged an agreement with an operator of three community centers in East Amman to extend their services to 300 Iraqi families living nearby.

In other news, The Department of Homeland Security has recently issued a press release stating:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) have been committed to streamlining the process for admitting Iraqi refugees to the U.S. while at the same time ensuring the highest level of security.

The DHS issued the press release the same day a committee in the House of Representatives held a hearing on the Iraqi refugee issue; a hearing that this AFP article summarizes.

Britain: Iraq Safe for Asylum seekers!

British authorities are to tell 1,400 rejected Iraqi asylum seekers in Britain to return home, The Guardian reported today. The paper added, “the [British] government considers Iraq safe enough to return them, according to leaked Home Office correspondence seen by the Guardian.”

The Iraqis involved are to be told that unless they sign up for a voluntary
return programme to Iraq within three weeks, they face being made homeless and losing state support. They will also be asked to sign a waiver agreeing the government will take no responsibility for what happens to them or their families once they return to Iraqi territory.

This decision came as dozens of Iraqis were killed all over the country in the last few days in a spate of suicide explosions, leaving people inside Iraq fearful of the increase of the terror and sectarian attacks that marked their lives for the last years after it went down in the last months. And yet, it is considered “safe enough” for Iraqis outside to go back to their country in the eyes of the British government.

The 1,400 Iraqis came to Britain before 2005 and were granted "hard case"
support. Although their claims for refugee status had been rejected, they were unable to leave the country because there was no safe way back to Iraq and they faced destitution in Britain. They have received "section four support" which includes basic "no-choice" accommodation, three meals a day, vouchers for essential items and only utility bills paid.

I wonder when these Iraqis return, how many of them are going to be killed or executed just for the mere reason that they were in Britain. What are they going to tell insurgents and militias who believe that Iraqis who lived in the west have been trained to spy on them? What if they considered these Iraqis traitors who preferred to live in the “infidel” west rather than their own country?

News roundup: 3/12/2008

The Boston Globe ran an editorial on Monday criticizing the cessation of Iraqi visa processing and also noting the efforts of TLP partner Upwardly Global:

"... Unfortunately, federal officials have stopped processing these visas, citing snags over such logistics as how visa applicants can prove that they face a threat in Iraq as a result of working for the United States. But the risk is gruesomely evident, and this bureaucratic hang-up should be cleared quickly to get Iraqis out of harm's way...

... a San Francisco nonprofit called Upwardly Global helps them connect to American jobs. This is essentially a translation project, explaining in American terms what an immigrant's foreign experience is and how it can benefit domestic companies. It provides this support for Iraqis across the United States during a weekly conference call, covering resume writing, networking, and the option of moving to places with more job opportunities. The nonprofit is also organizing an employment "boot camp" that it hopes to hold in the coming weeks in Washington.

...[M]aking a place here for thousands of Iraqis who helped the US government would repay a debt of gratitude."

Even Bush Administration officials have been conceding on the record that the crisis is "deepening":

Ambassador Lawrence Foley said a prime concern is worsening poverty among those who sought shelter inside Iraq as well as in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey. "The most critical problem is increasing impoverishment," said Foley, senior coordinator for Iraqi refugee issues at the State Department. Iraqis who live in foreign countries but do not possess residency permits are often forbidden to work, and so the longer they stay, the more likely they are to spend and deplete any remaining family resources, he said.

A new blog is up on blogspot in which an Iraqi currently employed as a translator describes his day to day life. The subheading of the blog poignantly describes his existence: "Traitors in our peoples view, Spies in american view, we are stuck in the middle!, who are we????????"

Alertnet runs a self-explanatory piece "Iraqi refugees see little hope of returning home."

Meanwhile, Sweden, formerly a haven for Iraqi refugees, is beginning to close its doors.

On a brighter note, the Washington Examiner reports on an Iraqi family peacefully settling in to the suburbs of the District of Columbia.

News: "The Mother Teresa of Baghdad"

Time has a story on a local Iraqi whose concern and help for internally displaced Iraqis has earned her the title of the Mother Teresa of Baghdad:

Madhiha Hassan is a diminutive, 37-year-old seamstress whom some people have begun calling the Mother Teresa of Baghdad. She's devoted her energies to helping Iraq's internally displaced people, particularly in the Karada district where she lives. She organizes periodic supply convoys to various camps for the displaced. The Iraqi army in the area helps her distribute basics such as rice, tea, sugar, cooking oil and blankets. The supplies come from different nongovernmental organizations, including the Red Cross and Red Crescent and an Iraqi aid group called Hands of Mercy. But aside from logistical support from security forces, Hassan gets no help from the Iraqi government.

Hassan does not only help provide much needed food and other aid, but her entrepreneurial spirit has also led to employment amongst the internally displaced:

Hassan recently decided to help them help themselves. She has taken her aid for the displaced one step further with an employment initiative. She managed to get 60 sewing machines through donations and set up a small workshop, which employs 100 women from displaced families.

Hat tip: appletreeblog

News: IAVA Advocates for "'Terps"

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has taken up the cause of America's Iraqi allies. As "the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans" IAVA is an important voice to be speaking out on this issue. Be sure to check out their page on Iraqi refugees and an excellent piece from a veteran's perspective by Ray Kimball:

What do you think of when you hear the word terp? If you’re a Marylander, you’re likely to give a yell of support for your local sports team. If you’re a pilot, you probably break open your publications bag and dig for the latest set of Terminal Instrument Procedures. But if you’ve served any time on the ground in Iraq, you probably have very vivid and fond memories of your “terp” - that is, your interpreter, the Iraqi who, in a very real sense, was your eyes and ears when you went outside the wire.

TLP in the News: The Washington Post on Visa Quotas

The Washington Post recently reported on the State Department halt on processing visa applications for Iraqi translators due to a quota limit.

The halt is the latest obstacle for many of the several thousand translators who have worked for U.S. military units in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking their lives and leaving their families vulnerable to retaliation from insurgents who see them as accomplices of American troops. More than 250 interpreters working for U.S. forces or their contractors have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Many American service members have worked to help their former translators gain a visa to come to the United States under a 2006 congressional program initially designed to admit 50 translators per year, a quota later increased to 500.

The article also quotes TLP's Kirk Johnson on the power of the president on the bureaucracy:

If this doesn't prove why it's President Bush's responsibility to whip these bureaucracies into shape, and why the best intentions of Congress can only nudge things, I don't know what else can," said Johnson, a former staffer with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Iraq. "Until the president weighs in, the bureaucracies will not solve this.

There are many more Iraqis who served as translators for the US, and who have worked with contractors, than the special visas currently allow. This narrow quota has recently been increased to 5,000 due to a recently passed bill that was signed by President Bush, however, its implementation will not take affect immediately. In the mean time, Iraqis who have risked their lives working for the US are shunned until the inertia-ridden bureaucracy implements the new quota.

Safehaven for Iraqi Dogs...for our translators and colleagues? Better wait...

Hi everyone, Kirk here. I haven't had a great deal of time to post to the blog recently, but every now and then a story transcends the chronic din of inaction on this issue, reminding us of just how absurd this has become for Iraqis who are fleeing for their lives because they helped us.

Click below to watch the story of how "Nubs," an Iraqi dog that came to befriend one of our Marines, is on his way to the U.S. The story quotes the Marine: "Nubs was going to America. This dog had been through a lifetime of fighting war, abuse....he was going to live the good life." The viewer learns with horror that Nubs' ear was cut off and he was tortured.

One wonders, how long does it take to save the life of a tortured Iraqi dog? How does that compare to the people on our List who were tortured because they worked for the United States? If the events of the past week are any guide, our desperate colleagues had better plan on waiting.

My op-ed @ informed comment

ON MERCY AND REDRESS

Matthew Walleser

There have been over four million Iraqis displaced because of the war and its effects, both inside and outside Iraq. They have fled to destinations that span the far reaches of the globe, from Jordan to Sweden, and many places in between. Some of those who have fled have at some point worked for the United States government in its war efforts. They have been translators and interpreters, who have helped our soldiers and provided or relayed information that no doubt saved many lives. They have been forced to flee because of death threats to themselves and to their families. They have been tortured by insurgents and have also been betrayed by the U.S. government.

In 2006, a former USAID employee, Kirk Johnson, created The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. The effort now has its own blog and the issue was profiled by George Packer at the New Yorker. Johnson began compiling a list of Iraqi friends and colleagues he had worked with in Iraq. The List has since grown to immense proportions, filled with others who have worked for the government and feel that they have nowhere to turn but to him. The List now is comprised of an enormous ring binder, of which names are added to every day, the result of a constant bombardment of emails and calls for help.

The State Department has pledged to help bring some Iraqis who have worked for the U.S. government to the United States. But these efforts are mired in a bureaucratic system so slow it cannot keep up with itself. The number of refugees that the U.S. has promised to bring in is far, far fewer than those who actually make it to our shores.

It is nothing less than tragic that in the last fiscal year, Sweden has taken in almost ten times as many Iraqi refugees as the United States. Indeed many nations are carrying a burden which they in all honestly cannot afford to carry. An example is Jordan, where hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees reside. Mounting prices are taxing the economy and its people, and refugees are having the hardest time of it. Until Iraq becomes stable enough to allow those Iraqis that helped the U.S. return to livable and sustainable conditions, the State Department, and the U.S. government have an obligation and a duty to give them safe haven and asylum within the United States, as well as to look after their wellbeing.

Many say that this is an impossible undertaking. But it has been done before by the United States, and is being done now by Great Britain. In 1996 the United States instituted Operation Pacific Haven, where they airlifted around 6000 Iraqis, mostly Kurds, to the American territory of Guam. It was there that they went through the administrative procedures of being allowed into United States, and most if not all were there by the next year. Now the British have initiated their own “Guam Option,” allowing for up to 1500 Iraqis who have helped them in Iraq to be offered safe haven in Britain, where they will be able to start their lives anew under the government’s aid and supervision.

This is what has to be done by our government in this great time of need for Iraqi refugees which helped out the U.S. and are now at the end of their ropes. They have few options left and few places to turn. The U.S. government has the capacity and the funds to carry out this operation. The only matter left to contemplate is weather it has the compassion to do so. No matter what you think about the war and its discontents, this is not about politics. It is about helping fellow human beings who put their lives on the line and have yet to be repaid in full. It is time for our government to step up to the plate.

Please write your congressional representatives and senators and plead that the US do the right thing here.

view the original at http://www.juancole.com/2008/03/walleser-guest-editorial-on-4-million.html