In Exchange for Security, Fleeing Iraqis Face Poverty and Lack of Opportunity

By Dalia Z. Tarik

Amman, Jordan – When an assessment team from International Medical Corps came to the door of Um Mohammed’s house last month, hoping to interview her about how she and her family are coping with living in exile in Jordan, she was reluctant to pull back the worn checked cloth that covered the doorway. The 28-year-old mother of two feared that the team was investigating her family’s legal status in the country. Like many Iraqis, they are living illegally in Jordan.

PHOTO: IMC Having left behind their jobs and their possessions, most Iraqis are struggling to make ends meet.

Um Mohammed and her husband and children are among the two million Iraqis who have fled their country to seek a more stable life elsewhere. The persistent violence and ongoing insecurity in Iraq has provoked one of the largest refugee movements in the world since 1948. An IMC assessment done in February and March of this year revealed that most Iraqis in exile are extremely vulnerable. They have little access to public services such as health care or education, and few economic opportunities. Having left their jobs and all of their worldly possessions, many are destitute. Those who aren’t are at risk of becoming so.

The tiny three-room apartment that Um Mohammed and her husband have rented is cramped and damp, with mold spreading everywhere. “We have been living in these poor conditions for almost a year and a half,” she said. “We were forced to abandon all our belongings to come here. Our case was a matter of life or death.”

With sorrow, her voice almost disappearing, she recalled the incident that prompted her family to flee their home country. “One night, a militant group stormed our house in Baghdad and seized my husband’s uncle,” she said. After days of searching the city’s morgues, Um Mohammed’s family discovered that the old man had been tortured, then killed. His body was dumped on the outskirts of Baghdad. She believes he was targeted, like so many Iraqis these days, because of his religion. He and his family belong to a small non-Muslim sect called Mandean. “We are a peaceful community,” said Um Mohammed. “But the militants who invaded our house called us “infidels” and said that all of our people must be killed.”

Um Mohammed’s family, once members of Iraq’s middle class, is now slowly but steadily slipping into poverty. So far, they have been able to get by on their savings. But their money is running out, and because it is illegal for Iraqis to work in Jordan, neither she nor her husband can find jobs. “My husband sold his small jewelry shop for only $2,000 after his uncle was killed,” said Um Mohammed. “When we took it over it was worth $10,000.”

PHOTO: IMC Many of the displaced can’t afford the fees to send their children to private schools outside of Iraq. If their homeland remains too violent for them to return soon, a generation of children might miss out on a critical segment of their education.

The influx into Jordan has led to an extreme shortage in affordable housing and has increased the pressure on the labor market, leaving many without any income. But one of the biggest issues for Iraqis living in exile is ensuring that their children get a good education. For many, the private schools that are open to their children are beyond their means. If the situation in Iraq remains too volatile for them to return, a whole generation of Iraqis might miss years of primary and secondary education.

“I have sold my gold bracelet and my wedding ring to pay for my daughter’s school fees,” said Um Mohammed. “I paid 20 Jordanian dinar ($28.00) at the beginning of the school term and now another 20 dinar are due for the second half. And that is only the school fees. I cannot afford the 60 dinar ($75.00) I need for her books.”

In Jordan there are no bombs, no killings, and no fighting. Living here, far from the violence that defines her homeland, Um Mohammed and her family have a much greater sense of security. She is no longer haunted by the fear that on any given day, she could lose someone she loves to a bomb at the marketplace or a militant bent on annihilating those who belong to a different sect.

But her family’s day-to-day life—how they will eat, where they will live, and what kind of future she can offer her children--remains far from stable.