08/14/2007

As violence in Iraq continues unabated, the number of people seeking safety outside the country is mounting. There are currently an estimated 2.4 million Iraqi refugees dispersed throughout the Middle East, with Syria and Jordan, countries already hosting sizeable Palestinian populations, opening their doors to the vast majority. Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, and Turkey have also taken in significant numbers. Kuwait is now seeing the number of asylum seekers rise, as well.

“I started a small company and was providing services to the U.S. military after Saddam Hussein was overthrown,” a visibly nervous Ali explained. “People knew as much.” Ali, an Iraqi asylum seeker now living in Kuwait, recently told his story to Refugees International. To protect Ali's identity and that of his family members in both countries, a number of details have been either altered or omitted.

“I was trying to make a living. I had nothing to do with any militia in Iraq,” Ali stressed. Trouble for him and his family began with an attempt to kidnap one of his children from school in 2005. “That summer I came to Kuwait and tried to get a residence permit, because some of my relatives live here. I had lived in Kuwait earlier in my life, but as an Iraqi citizen I was not successful in getting a permit.”

Since then, Ali and his family have traveled between Iraq and Kuwait several times. On one return journey to Iraq, he found that his car had been stolen and his house robbed. Upon arriving in Kuwait on one occasion, an immigration official told him that no citizen of Iraq or Afghanistan could remain in Kuwait. “I had paid a lot of money to make the trip and to live and work here legally, but was given just a few days to leave the country. I went back to Iraq but not to my home in Baghdad.”

As security worsened in Iraq, Ali was no longer able to send his children to school. He was so fearful for his own safety that he was reluctant to go even to a barbershop, and his wife cut his hair at home. Then one night, while the family was sleeping, someone opened fire on their house. After this episode, Ali tried to find refuge in Kuwait again. His entry visa was valid for only one month, and he remained in the country after it expired, until applying for asylum earlier this year. “The Kuwaitis treat us fine, but we can't work here, the children can't be admitted to school, and we can't afford tuition for private schools. My relatives here are providing food and shelter for us.”

Kuwait is not presently accepting Iraqi refugees, so Ali is seeking third country resettlement. “We can't go back to Iraq. Even one of my own relatives there tried to extort money from me and threatened to given my name to a militia.” Now he wants protection in the U.S., the country he assisted.

"We left everything behind. Everything we now own was either bought here or given to us. We want to build a new life and start again."