Hardships in Finding jobs in Denmark

In spite of being qualified, the Iraqi refugees in Denmark have been going through a hard time in finding jobs, China View reported.

STCKHOLM, July 18 (Xinhua) -- About 100 Iraqi interpreters and aid workers granted asylum in Denmark last year are choosing to return to Iraq due to their unemployment, according to reports reaching here from Copenhagen Friday.

The Iraqis, who had worked for the Danish military in Iraq, arrived in Denmark with their families last July when the army withdrew its troops.

After one year in Denmark only a handful of the interpreters, 13 of whom are engineers, have found work, reported Danish public broadcaster DR, adding that Iraqi refugees are choosing an uncertain life in Iraq over unemployment in Denmark.

"Companies are currently experiencing a lack of qualified labor, including engineers, and it was believed that they would find work quickly. But despite being highly qualified and speaking fluent English, only one of the Iraqi engineers has found a job," said Treine Schou Tinborg, president of the National Association of Engineers (IDA).

Survived Iraqi in Roanoke

An Iraqi trying to save an American soldier is not something we usually see on American TV. However, on the World’s Refugee Day, a local Roanoke TV station broadcasted a report about an Iraqi refugee family that just came to the United States. Hayder Kharallah, an Iraqi interpreter who worked with American troops in Iraq, is one of the Iraqi political refugees who made it safe to the U.S. with his wife Deena and his son Ali.

Hayder’s leg was amputated below the knee after the convoy of U.S. soldiers he was interpreting for, took enemy fire-from three different directions. He was shot while he was trying to save a military Sergeant and a friend whom he was playing a video game with hours before they were attacked.

For more about Hayder and his survival story, click here.

Towards Successful Jobs

They worked hard and sacrificed a lot. They spent days, months and years working to help the American mission succeed in Iraq. They were intimidated, but were very persistent to continue their struggle against humanity enemies. But life is too short to lose. Eventually, they had to leave. Their friends were killed, burned, and tortured and their heads were supposed to be next. Their crime, insurgents believe, was helping the “evil” Americans.

These are the Iraqi employees who worked as translators, interpreters, project managers and cultural advisors to serve the U.S. government and its contractors in Iraq.

For some time, these Iraqis believed they were trapped and abandoned and their fate would be like that of their slaughtered friends and colleagues. But when The List Project reached out to them, these locked doors were opened and their lives were finally spared when they made it safe to America, after a long bureaucratic process.

Each one of these Iraqis had a story, if not several ones. Each witnessed what no human being on earth could ever imagine. I was there. I was in their shoes and know how it feels to work day and night in the midst of that horror.

Now, they are in America starting a new life. Their first step is finding a job. And here the hands were extended to them.

Last weekend, The List Project, Upwardly Global and Manpower Inc. collaborated to offer a Career Summit, the first-of-its-kind career orientation workshop for 50 Iraqi refugees at Holland & Knight and Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

Once resettled, the Iraqi refugees face many challenges. One of the most difficult one is often finding themselves unemployed and in need of assistance. In the Career Summit, Upwardly Global helped the highly-skilled Iraqis, refugees and asylees advising them of how to reclaim their careers in the United States. The two-day workshop they held included sessions on résumé writing, interviewing techniques and developing networking skills. Manpower Inc. invited employers in the Washington, D.C. area to learn about the wealth of experience and skills these Iraqi professionals bring to the greater D.C.-area labor market. Employers and other invited guests had the opportunity to meet Iraqi job seekers, and discuss their unique expertise and career interests.

The summit was more than a success. Participants expressed their hope and were very happy to see such an effort being made for them to be able to live and work in their new home.

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.

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: 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.

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.

News: Iraq still among most dangerous spots for journalists

Iraq continues to be a dangerous place for media workers. The LA Times recently reported: “Bomb Kills Iraqi Cameraman” and The Committee to Protect Journalists reports:

In Iraq, 32 journalists -- the same figure as in 2006 -- were killed last year, all but one of them Iraqis, as well as 12 media support workers, who include translators, fixers, guards and drivers, CPJ said. The report called the Iraq war "the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history," with 125 journalists and 49 support workers killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003…

Read the full report here.

Video: The Plight of Iraqi Interpreters

Click here for a Daily Mail article about one interpreter's problems with militias.