|
The three oldest Jawad sons unload their luggage at Dulles International Airport before their flight out of the U.S.
Friends say goodbye in Stafford. Shamas, 3, talks about seeing everyone again, and the adults murmur 'Insha'Allah,' which means 'God willing.'
Shamas Jawad leans on her mother, Wafaa, on the way to the airport Thursday. The Iraqi family came to |
Shamas Jawad woke up groggily in the back seat of a minivan bound for the airport.
"Are we there yet?" the sleepy 3-year-old asked in Arabic.
Awkward laughter followed. The curly-haired preschooler and her family wouldn't reach their destination for another 36 hours. And then they could face an additional daylong journey.
When the Jawads arrive in Syria, they may find a cheap place to rent. But the government could instead deny them refuge and offer a police escort back to the Jawads' native Iraq.
Shamas' father, Muoafaq Jawad, thinks either option would be better than life in America.
He, his wife and five children arrived in Stafford County on Aug. 27.
They fled Iraq in 2006, months after Jawad's then-16-year-old son was kidnapped on his way home from school. While Jawad gathered the $20,000 ransom, the kidnappers broke Ahmed's legs and teeth.
When they got Ahmed back, the family left for Syria and then America, expecting a new life.
They found poverty, unemployment and homelessness here.
The Jawads were evicted from their Stafford townhouse March 12 and immediately began begging and borrowing money for airfare for all seven family members. They packed their clothes and left for Syria on Thursday.
"We came here a few months ago filled with hope," Jawad said. "Now, we are going back. We have no hope."
Unable to find jobs during the recession, the Jawads and another Iraqi refugee family both left Stafford on Thursday.
About 85 Iraqis resettled in the Fredericksburg area last year. Most came through Jordan and Syria where, refugees say, someone promised them jobs and aid once they got to America.
"They told us they would bring us to the United States for a better life," Jawad said.
But he and other Iraqi refugees in America say they were better off as refugees in Syria and Jordan.
"I have been in this work since 1995 and have not yet seen anything like this," said Seyoum Berhe, director of migration and refugee services for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington.
The U.S. Department of State doesn't track how many refugees leave America, but refugee resettlement advocates say the numbers are not large.
"It has happened," said Anastasia Brown, director of refugee programs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "But if you compared the numbers with those coming in, I think you would find it is a very small number."
The United States took in 13,000 Iraqi refugees last year, while unemployment rose across the nation.
When Jawad went to court for his eviction, he saw many Americans also facing foreclosures and evictions.
"Americans are struggling themselves," said Arkan Alazzawi, an Iraqi refugee who interpreted at the court procedure for Jawad .
And for the Iraqis, the situation has been even more difficult, complicated by language and cultural barriers.
A construction contractor in Iraq, Jawad hoped to find similar work here.
Most Iraqi refugees struggle with the same issue: They were doctors, engineers and businessmen in Iraq, and don't want to work in fast-food restaurants and warehouses.
But even those jobs are hard to find these days.
Jawad said he applied for a job at a nearby store. He didn't get the job, but it wouldn't have prevented an eviction from his $1,500-a-month townhouse.
The local resettlement office, area churches and the Islamic Center of Fredericksburg all paid his rent for the first five months, but help ran out.
Jawad remained unemployed and didn't pay the rent.
He hopes that, somehow, resettlement agencies and the government will respond to his story and change the resettlement process.
More Iraqi refugees are expected to resettle in the U.S. this year. Some say the government should not take any more until the economy improves.
Refugee advocates counter that resettlement saves lives.
"Refugees are coming here because they're persecuted, not because they're looking for jobs. We need to ensure they are in a safe environment and able to start their lives over again," Catholic refugee programs director Brown said. "We need to retain a robust refugee program."
Riding in the minivan to Dulles International Airport, Jawad said he would miss this country.
"Most Americans are very friendly, very nice," he said as they pulled up to the terminal. "Sometimes, for the disputes of two republics, the residents pay a very high price."
Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com
| Two Iraqi families left Stafford last week to return to the Middle East. Both left Iraq nearly two years ago fearing for their lives. Muoafaq Jawad packed up his family two months after his teenage son, Ahmed, was kidnapped walking home from school. Muoafaq himself still bears the scars from being shot. His nephew, two nieces, an uncle and a business partner were killed in Iraq.
Bakr Kadhim moved to Stafford with his wife and three daughters last summer. A businessman, Kadhim was kidnapped while working in Baghdad. But months after arriving, Kadhim wondered whether he'd be better off back in Syria. Thursday, he left to find out. |
Refugee resettlement agencies, advocates and detractors don't agree on much when it comes to the resettlement process. Since then, advocates say, many changes to the welfare system have impacted refugees' aid when they get to the United States. Others, such as Ann Corcoran of the blog Refugee Resettlement Watch, say the program gives too much power to 10 voluntary agencies contracting with the federal government to resettle refugees.
|
| Iraqi refugees flee to Syria and Jordan, two neighboring countries that host about 2 million refugees. There, they often face discrimination, overcrowding and higher taxes.
Many petition for resettlement in other countries through the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. To get into America, refugees are screened first by an international agency such as the U.N.'s International Office of Migration. Then their backgrounds are checked again by the Department of Homeland Security. Then they go to the U.S. Department of State, which resettles refugees using 10 national voluntary agencies. Refugees resettled in the Fredericksburg area come through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, one of those 10 agencies. |
