This Libération article translated from French describes the second hell being inflicted on Iraqis who attempt to get to Britain or find safety in Europe . It describes the way refugees or 'exiles' as they prefer to be called are pushed from one country to another and how European states have created a system which serves to push refugees back to the entry countries of the European Union where asylum is very rarely, if ever granted.
Libération", 21 March 2008
Iraqi exiles wander without refuge
Conflict , Iraqi exiles in Paris talk about their flight from their country
by DJAMEL SOUAFA, étudiant en master 1 d'histoire à Nanterre
“I was a soldier from Kirkuk, ”says Hassan, a deserter of 25 years old . “When my wife disappeared in a bombing , I preferred not to die as well for nothing . But in Iraq you have to pay to leave the army so I had to abscond”. Like him, they are numerous at the Gare de l’Est at Paris . Five years after the intervention of the Americans in Iraq many Iraqi refugees attempt to live here illegally while waiting to continue their exile. Living rough in the square among their displaced compatriots between two forced journeys . They are witness to the violence that persists in their country and which pushed them to flee. Hassan is a fatalist
“People die everyday they are obliged to leave”.
According to the World Health Organization, 120 Iraqis die every day as a result of the violence of every kind that the country has known since the invasion began . 85,000 since the beginning of operations according to the organization Iraq Body Count . This violence also translates as endemic criminality which Hassan continues to hear about through the few contacts he has with his family he left behind there . I don’t miss Saddam , but its become even worse since the Americans arrived . It’s a chaos that transcends different communal groups “Arabs and Kurds we have the same problems”,
Resignation
Ali, an old photographer made the same observation “ with the war there are no more papers to work for, “ and other jobs were closed with the arrival of foreign companies” Ali left for Europe out of resignation. Like Hassan he insists on the fact that they had no choice . No question of returning today, only to find insecurity , misery and the denial of rights which accompanied the civil war . “The country is getting worse , everything is more and more rotten. Iraq is finished.”
There are in total more than 4.5 millions who have been obliged to leave their homes . Among them 2.2 million who have fled the country , most for neighbouring states . For the High commission for Refugees (HCR) in the Middle East, its been the biggest exodus in the region since the Palestinians in 1948.
Some get further; as far as Europe where they hope to get better protection . Their asylum requests, the highest number in the European Union are mostly not honoured and a lot now don’t say they have arrived .
For Hassan , the next stage , is the United Kingdom , or elsewhere . “ I would like to stay but its impossible to get a passport here .” Ali has no illusions . In France for several months , he says he was in prison for 34 days as a consequence of being in an illegal situation.
“I have known people who have been here for five years without being able to get any papers so I know things won’t be working out for me anytime soon.”
Precarious
Like Hassan and Ali , they are many hundreds who live in this very precarious way in France . According to Jean Pierre Alaux of the Gisti responsible for research studies at the Information Group and support to immigrants. For him the conditions of the exiles is even “catastrophic”. But its difficult to evaluate . “They don’t speak much about their condition , most come from the middle class, and are ashamed . Those who have the means to get to Europe aren’t used to life on the street and having to resort to begging”.
Arriving in the majority in the European Union from Greece ; They are passed from one country to another . The EU doctrine gives members states the possibility to push refugees back to the countries of entry into the EU where the recognition of the statute of refugee is generally more restrictive. The Italian Police speak to them about the camp at Sangatte from where they can get to England while they know perfectly well that it closed in 2002 . “I have seen exiles who like that have done a tour of Europe in ‘Middle-Age’ like conditions without finding any place to settle . Not finding peace even 5 years afterwards”.
original article:
http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/monde/316899.FR.php
Iraqi exiles wander without refuge
Conflict , Iraqi exiles in Paris talk about their flight from their country
by DJAMEL SOUAFA, étudiant en master 1 d'histoire à Nanterre
“I was a soldier from Kirkuk, ”says Hassan, a deserter of 25 years old . “When my wife disappeared in a bombing , I preferred not to die as well for nothing . But in Iraq you have to pay to leave the army so I had to abscond”. Like him, they are numerous at the Gare de l’Est at Paris . Five years after the intervention of the Americans in Iraq many Iraqi refugees attempt to live here illegally while waiting to continue their exile. Living rough in the square among their displaced compatriots between two forced journeys . They are witness to the violence that persists in their country and which pushed them to flee. Hassan is a fatalist
“People die everyday they are obliged to leave”.
According to the World Health Organization, 120 Iraqis die every day as a result of the violence of every kind that the country has known since the invasion began . 85,000 since the beginning of operations according to the organization Iraq Body Count . This violence also translates as endemic criminality which Hassan continues to hear about through the few contacts he has with his family he left behind there . I don’t miss Saddam , but its become even worse since the Americans arrived . It’s a chaos that transcends different communal groups “Arabs and Kurds we have the same problems”,
Resignation
Ali, an old photographer made the same observation “ with the war there are no more papers to work for, “ and other jobs were closed with the arrival of foreign companies” Ali left for Europe out of resignation. Like Hassan he insists on the fact that they had no choice . No question of returning today, only to find insecurity , misery and the denial of rights which accompanied the civil war . “The country is getting worse , everything is more and more rotten. Iraq is finished.”
There are in total more than 4.5 millions who have been obliged to leave their homes . Among them 2.2 million who have fled the country , most for neighbouring states . For the High commission for Refugees (HCR) in the Middle East, its been the biggest exodus in the region since the Palestinians in 1948.
Some get further; as far as Europe where they hope to get better protection . Their asylum requests, the highest number in the European Union are mostly not honoured and a lot now don’t say they have arrived .
For Hassan , the next stage , is the United Kingdom , or elsewhere . “ I would like to stay but its impossible to get a passport here .” Ali has no illusions . In France for several months , he says he was in prison for 34 days as a consequence of being in an illegal situation.
“I have known people who have been here for five years without being able to get any papers so I know things won’t be working out for me anytime soon.”
Precarious
Like Hassan and Ali , they are many hundreds who live in this very precarious way in France . According to Jean Pierre Alaux of the Gisti responsible for research studies at the Information Group and support to immigrants. For him the conditions of the exiles is even “catastrophic”. But its difficult to evaluate . “They don’t speak much about their condition , most come from the middle class, and are ashamed . Those who have the means to get to Europe aren’t used to life on the street and having to resort to begging”.
Arriving in the majority in the European Union from Greece ; They are passed from one country to another . The EU doctrine gives members states the possibility to push refugees back to the countries of entry into the EU where the recognition of the statute of refugee is generally more restrictive. The Italian Police speak to them about the camp at Sangatte from where they can get to England while they know perfectly well that it closed in 2002 . “I have seen exiles who like that have done a tour of Europe in ‘Middle-Age’ like conditions without finding any place to settle . Not finding peace even 5 years afterwards”.
original article:
http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/monde/316899.FR.php
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