Fear follows Iraqis abroad
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 2:05 PM
Filed Under:
Baghdad, Iraq
By Carla Marcus, NBC News Producer
The warning to his family was explicit. "Do not befriend or talk to any Iraqis."
Sound like words likely to be spoken in ethnically-torn Iraq? The advice was actually given to the wife and children of an Iraqi colleague lucky enough to get his family to Europe. The family is presently applying for asylum, as well as learning a new language and skills which may lead to work.
Similar words were expressed by another workmate who moved his family to Syria. While he remains here in Baghdad to work so he can support his wife and children, the potential danger to his family abroad is high. Why? In each case, there's fear that if word gets out that the families have ties to Iraqis working for Western organizations, trouble could arise in the form of retaliation – the same fears each family lived with while in Iraq.
Their worries are not just for family in Syria and Europe, but also for family members who remain in Iraq. If word gets out to people who perceive my colleagues as being collaborators with the occupying power, then some may be inclined to intimidate or harm loved ones who can be tracked down in Iraq.
My colleague who settled his family in Syria says the need to remain silent reminds him of the fear he lived with during the domination of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime, when informants could ruin lives. Now it seems that the same paranoia and fear exists, except now it has crossed the nation's borders and extended to other locations in the Middle East and beyond.
Usually when we hear about Iraqis who have fled the country, there's an assumption that the worst of their problems are behind them. After all they've escaped the violence and hardships of living in a place where suicide bombings, raids, gunfire and torture are the norm. Perhaps like other immigrants, we think there's an opportunity for them to rebuild lives, educate their children in places which are comparatively calmer, and eventually even find work.
Yet for many, life abroad often means broken families, financial struggles, and the grief of coping with loved ones who lost their lives in Iraq. Compounding these harsh realities is the fear that problems certainly remain for those left behind in Iraq.
