ShareThisThe prospect of living in the United States did not cross Mushtaq Talib's mind until staying in his home country of Iraq became life threatening.
Talib, 32, who came to the United States in May 2008 to save his life, is now struggling to make a living for himself, his wife, Nadima, and his 4-year-old daughter, Rahaf, in Alexandria, Va. in suburban Washington, D.C.
He had run away from his Iraq work site, the al Taji Military Base near Baghdad where he was an interpreter, immediately after al Qaeda insurgents shot and fatally wounded his best friend, who like Talib, was working for the U.S. Army.
Talib said he left Iraq for his daughter. "I don't want her to grow up without a daddy," he said.
Like Talib, many Iraqis were forced to leave their country due to constant threats by many different militias. The two dominant factions, the Sunni al Qaeda and the Shia al Mahdi army, divide the Iraqi population along sectarian lines.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Fact Sheet on Iraqi Refugee Processing, about 20,000 Iraqi refugees, have resettled in the United States since 2007. Due to the U.S. economic crisis, many of those refugees are not able to find jobs and depend on the welfare system and private donations to support their families.
Each has a different story, but all say the reason for leaving their home country is the same -- saving their lives and those of their immediate families.
Aalaa Naji, 35, who now lives in Atlanta, became a single mother after her husband was killed in his car in August 2003, when a car bomb exploded outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. Despite constant threats and family pressure, she continued to work with the U.S. Army as an interpreter and later as a human resources assistant in an office that oversaw reconstruction projects.
Like most Iraqi refugees, Naji's road to Atlanta was long and circuitous. She left Iraq in 2004 and went to Jordan, where she found a job as administrative assistant with the United Nations. She knew Jordan would not be her final destination, but did not know where she would resettle until she learned that the United States was opening its doors to Iraqi refugees in 2007.
Unlike Naji, most Iraqi refugees who resettled in Jordan, Syria and Egypt were not able to find permanent jobs in those countries. Basil Majdi, 25, now of Morristown, N.J., said Iraqis who fled to Syria were not able to get work permits. "You basically had to rely on your savings from Iraq," said Majdi, who is unemployed. "Some people couldn't survive that, went back to Iraq and got killed."
Iraqis who want to resettle in the United States have to deal with the bureaucracies of three government institutions and go through at least 10 interviews over many months. After the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees recommends refugees to U.S. authorities, the U.S. State Department clears them, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency approves their refugee status.
Most refugees say that if everything goes smoothly the resettlement application process lasts about a year.
But the complicated process is not the only challenge for Iraqi refugees. Making ends meet is a problem for many who came to the United States last year, a time when the country fell into economic recession.
"I applied for a job in many places, and I never heard back from them," said Eric, who worked as an interpreter with the U.S. Army for more than three years. He does not use any other name in order to protect himself and his family.
Those who work with Iraqi refugees say the economy calls for a review of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program that provides financial assistance to refugees for four to six months after they arrive.
Carol Fouke-Mpoyo, an information specialist at Church World Service, one of nine voluntary agencies that resettles refugees in the U.S., said the current system is based on an unrealistic expectation that the refugees will find employment shortly after they arrive.
She said the refugee resettlement community is pressing the U.S. government for more adequate funding.
The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration grants $850 per refugee to the voluntary agencies to provide the refugees with money for food, rent and clothing during the first month of their stay, as well as counseling and adjustment services for three months. The Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gives grants for temporary cash and medical assistance in amounts that vary by state.
This office also gives voluntary agencies $2,200 for each eligible refugee to help them support themselves and their families for four to six months.
A State Department official said agencies should use the government money to supplement private resources. "We do recognize there is a problem, and we are working to see how we can improve the situation," said the official, spoke on background. The department recently released $5 million in emergency funding for refugees' housing costs.
Those who do find jobs often have to work long hours for little money. Talib, who worked as an aviation instructor in Baghdad before the war, is now working as a truck driver for King of Pita, a bakery in Fairfax, Va. He said there are days when he does not earn a commission if no store or restaurant buys from him.
He said he has to work part time as a pizza delivery man to support his family. "My current job pays for our rent and bills. I have to work on another job to feed my family," he said.
Unlike most Iraqi refugees who view the United States as their permanent destination, Talib looks forward to the time when he will be able to return to his home country safely. "One day, people will stop talking about who is Shia or Sunni," said Talib, who does not identify himself with either sect.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)
With REFUGEES-SIDE
