News: Iraqi Interpreters' Medical Care

The Denver Post reports on the medical care received by Iraqi interpreters working for the US military.

The military, currently relying on about 5,490 local-hire interpreters, couldn't
account for what happens to those wounded. Iraqi linguists "are contracted
employees . . . eligible for emergency care when the injury will
result in loss of life, limb or eyesight," said Navy Lt. David Russell,
spokesman for the multinational forces in Iraq. Further care depends on
contractors, he said.

The article accutely describes the serious risk of bodily harm interpreters face in the field and the obligation the US has to provide for these Iraqis' medical care.

TLP in the News: 60 minutes in the blogosphere

We are pleased that the 60 minutes feature has brought a little more attention to the plight of Iraqi refugees including so many that risked their lives to help Americans. Below are some of the comments that Scott Pelley's report elicited throughout the blogosphere. Only a few examples are included, but they demonstrate the wide spectrum of Americans that are concerned about our country's inability to assist our allies so far.

From The American Conservative blog:

When we asked for help, these people answered. They’re among Iraq’s brightest—bilingual professionals who were willing to make common cause with the West. But now America has no use for them.

There should be a national debate about immigration reform, but dealing with the millions living here illegally is an issue for another day. These aren’t border crossers looking for bigger paychecks but refugees fleeing for their lives. They would probably prefer to return to their own homes and culture, but those don’t exist anymore. We liberated them.

From the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) blog:

[The report] was a moving and overdue piece about Kirk Johnson and his The List Project (thelistproject.org) on Sixty Minutes. Johnson is as committed, talented, and hardworking a young man as you will find and the energy he directs into doing the right thing not just for his associates from Iraq but for our Nation’s reputation are heroic.

And from Firedoglake:

Tonight the appalling plight of the approximately 100,000 Iraqis who assisted the US government in Iraq is highlighted on 60 Minutes. We have given only 5,000 refuge here, while a country like Sweden has taken in 40,000. What is wrong with us? Have we no decency?

This is truly an issue that diverse groups can unite behind to demand what is right and just. Political affiliations, demographics, views of the Iraq War -- all are irrelevant when considering the universality of the moral imperative facing our country. We cannot turn our backs on allies-- both for their sake and our own. Please consider what you can do, however small, to make sure this issue does not fade from the national consciousness.

A speedy recovery to Senator Kennedy

The List Project wishes the speediest of recoveries to our great ally and friend, Senator Kennedy. The Senator has been the surest of leaders in the Congress in recognizing our nation's moral obligation to U.S.-affiliated Iraqis. He is now in our thoughts and prayers.

TLP in the News: 60 Minutes Excerpt

On Sunday, May 18th, 60 Minutes profiled The List Project and interviewed its founder, Kirk Johnson. Below is an excerpt of their report:

Resettlement Story: "An Iraqi family comes to America"

The BBC has reported on an Iraqi family of which the father was an interpreter for the American and Iraqi armies. Haithem, the interpreter, and his family decided to apply for a US visa in light of an attempt on his life. However, life can be difficult in the US:

And $6 an hour at a burger bar isn't enough for the $600 a month rent for their apartment, which they will soon have to start paying. So he thinks he has only one realistic but appalling alternative - to go back to Baghdad as a well-paid interpreter for a firm of US contractors.

This story sounds all too familiar as some resettled Iraqis find minimal job prospects in the US and have little option but to return to Iraq where they can continue work with the US, but again fear for their lives. The lack of a support system for resettled Iraqis in the US directly leads to some Iraqis returning to Iraq and effectively nullifies the point of relocating.

TLP in the News: 60 Minutes on May 18, 2008

TLP founder Kirk Johnson will be featured on the next episode of 60 minutes, which is set to air on Sunday, May 18 at 7 p.m. EST. Scott Pelley will document the struggles faced by Iraqi allies whose assistance to US personnel has put their lives in jeopardy. As described on the 60 minutes website:

Thousands of Iraqis who helped the U.S. in Iraq as translators, office help and construction workers are now labeled collaborators by the insurgents. A young American, Kirk Johnson, is making a Herculean effort to help get them out of harm's way. Scott Pelley reports. Shawn Efran is the producer.

Check out the episode preview and be sure to spread the word.

News: The New York Times Article "Officers Battle Visa Hurdles for Iraq Aides"

The New York Times has an excellent article about the daunting visa process for Iraqi interpreters and the US veterans and soldiers that help them. It is worth reading in full and quoting at length:

The process, complicated for anyone, is especially hard for interpreters.

They are considered refugees, and refugees cannot apply from their native countries, in this case Iraq. But Jordan and Syria have closed their borders to the flood ofIraqi refugees. Passports issued by the government of Saddam Hussein are not valid, often making it impossible to cross borders legally.

Lt. Col. Steven Miska, an Army infantry officer, has had more than 50 interpreters work for him during his years in Iraq. After looking into the visa process, he decided that “no Iraqi would ever figure that thing out,” and set his staff members to establish a network. They pair Iraqis with American veterans who help shepherd them out of Iraq, through Jordan and Syria and into the United States.

He was particularly frustrated by the requirement that interpreters produce a letter from a general on their behalf. This, he said, was like a junior associate at a Fortune 500 company asking the chief executive for a letter of recommendation.

The article also mentions The Checkpoint One Foundation, an organization started by a national guardsman working with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense by the name of Jason Faler. The organization advocates for Iraqi interpreters and has resettle two Iraqi families and one from Afghanistan. Go to their website for more information.

News: UNHCR Signs Deal with International Medical Corps

The UNHCR has recently contracted the International Medical Corps, an international non-governmental organization akin to Doctors Without Borders, to open three clinics in Damascus for the aid of Iraqi refugees living in Syria. ReliefWeb reports:

To date, international NGOs have not been given permission to work with Iraqi refugees in Syria. A limited number of small local charities have been working with UNHCR over the past few years, but the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is UNHCR's main implementing partner in the country.

IMC will start work at a time when Syrian Arab Red Crescent clinics dedicated to refugee health care are having to cope with rising numbers of Iraqi patients. More than 150,000 refugees have visited the clinics since the beginning of the year, compared to 200,000 for the whole of last year.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR continues to report that its lack of funding for Iraqi refugees will lead lead to dramatic cuts in aid programs, ranging from food to health to direct financial assistance:

Health programmes for Iraqis could be drastically reduced and the provision of some specialized medical interventions might come to a complete halt. By August, UNHCR will not be able to cover all basic health needs of Iraqis, and many seriously ill Iraqis will not be able to receive their monthly medication.

Since January, 150,000 Iraqis in Syria and close 19,000 in Jordan received basic health care assistance. With health facilities compromised in many parts of Iraq and many doctors no longer available, a growing number of ailing Iraqis are becoming refugees as they leave home in search of medical care elsewhere.

The UNHCR claims that it lacks the $127 million of the $261 million it asked of the international community in January for the Iraqi refugee relief effort. Compare the shortfall of $127 million with the cost of Iraq war spending by the United States, which is $341.4 million per day according to the the National Priorities Project.

News: Betrayed Wins Award for Outstanding Play

George Packer's play, Betrayed, was named the "outstanding play" at the annual Lucille Lortel Awards. The play is a fictional account of an Iraqi translator's predicament in being denied a US visa and facing the threat of death in Iraq. A review of the play by the New York Times can be found here and George Packer's blog can be found here.

News Roundup: 5/5/08

According to the UN news agency, IRIN, the UNHCR is facing a funding shortfall for its financial request for Iraqi refugees:

At present, some 12,000 people (mostly heads of families) receive monthly financial assistance of US$100-$200 to meet their most urgent needs. Their position will be dire should the funds not materialise.

Wilkes said that while in September 2007, some 33,000 people needed food aid, the number had now risen to over 110,000. "By the end of the year that would increase by tens of thousands," she said.

The spiking costs of food on the global market, such as wheat and grain, will only exacerbate the situation of the desperate. In addition to staggering oil costs, aid agencies will find it ever more costly to deliver aid and may find other nations less willing to contribute funds towards the effort.

The AFP reports that Jordan has imposed new restrictions on Iraqi refugee admittances. The new law, effective since May 1st, requires Iraqi refugees to obtain visas to enter Jordan. Visas are obtainable through Jordanian embassies or courier services.

Vice magazine has a disturbing first hand account of Syrian prostitution clubs, many of which are populated by young Iraqi refugee girls. The author relates:

On the following Friday evening, I went—this time with an Arab friend—to the discotheque in the basement of the Hotel Meridien. After my friend had met a few of the girls there, he confirmed that they were all Iraqi refugees. Some had been prostitutes under Saddam’s regime, and some were there following the very dark, violent, inconceivable cataclysms that the war had brought into their lives. All of them were drunk to the point of staggering up and down the carpeted stairs under the weak, cheap disco lights.