Refugees Magazine Issue 146 ("Iraq Bleeds: Millions displaced by conflict, persecution and violence") - Refugee testimonies: Amina

Refugees Magazine, 1 April 2007

Collected by Rupert Colville

"My husband was an officer in the old army. After the invasion, some militia started sending threats." Some men tried to capture their 10-year-old son at his school. The school guard intervened, and was shot dead.

"After that, we moved to Falluja, but our history followed us. A list came out with the names of everyone who had been in the army. We left everything and came to Jordan at the beginning of 2005. At that time there was no problem getting into Jordan.

"My husband wasn't able to work – so he went back to Iraq to try to earn some money. He was there for 15 days. I don't know what happened but he told me on the phone that he wanted to come back to Jordan. Between Abu Ghreib and Ramadi there were men at a checkpoint – they looked like government forces, but we were told later it was the [Mahdi] Army. They asked to see his ID card, then took him away.

"I've had no news from him now for fourteen months. I'm living on my own with five children. I have no income.

"When I went to the Ministry of the Interior building to extend my visa, I saw a woman I knew from Iraq. I gave her my cell phone number. Later, a man called me on the cell phone. He said 'I want to hand you a letter from your husband. He's alive.' I said 'I can't come and get the letter now. It's night time. Can I send someone?' He said 'Bring your son and come.' We arranged to meet in the place where the buses leave for Iraq. I waited there 45 minutes. Then I got another phone call, and the same man said 'You think that just because you left Iraq, you are safe?' I was shaking. I took my son and went back home.

"Life has gone back to what it was. I can't really support my children any more. When someone knocks at the door, I'm afraid. I have an arrangement with a neighbour. If I ring once and put down the phone, she comes to check."

In early 2006, her two-year-old daughter began collapsing on a regular basis, and was subsequently found to be suffering from cancer of the kidney. The NGO Caritas helped Amina with the medical bills. One kidney was totally destroyed, so they removed it.

Now three years old, she is still under observation. In December, she collapsed again. "I don't have money for continued medical care ... " said her mother, tears streaming down her face. "I don't know what to do."

Source: Refugees Magazine Issue 146: "Iraq Bleeds: Millions displaced by conflict, persecution and violence" (April 2007).

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