First Iraqi refugee arrives in Worcester

By Chet Williamson

In February, in an effort to address growing pressure coming from the U.S. Congress and the international community, the Bush Administration announced plans to resettle more than 7,000 Iraqi refugees in the United States before the end of the year. The first such refugee to come to Worcester is Badria Jamil, a 44-year-old woman from Baghdad. She arrived last week.

The effort is being coordinated locally by the Refugee Services of the Lutheran Social Services of New England and, according to Executive Director Jozefina Lantz, more displaced Iraqis will also be coming to the area within the next few weeks.

"We received very little information about her," Lantz says of Jamil. "I can tell you that she was attacked. She has come here from Jordan and has been approved for U.S. resettlement."

Lantz also states that Jamil's family is still in Iraq and her son, who is in need of medical attention, is one of those arriving in Worcester at a later date. Fearing possible retaliation to her family, Jamil agreed to be interviewed on the condition that she is not photographed.

When asked if she plans to return to Baghdad, Jamil was emphatic, saying, "No! I was beaten up, persecuted in my own country. I fled my own home and left everything behind me."

Speaking through an interpreter, Jamil says that with the help of the International Organization for Migration in the Amman office in Jordan she came to the U.S.

"I first applied for asylum with UNHCR [United Nations High Commission for Refugees]," she says, recounting her travels. "I took a plane from Amman to Frankfurt, Germany, then to Newark, New Jersey, then Providence."

From there, Jamil was picked up by a Lutheran Social Services caseworker and driven to Worcester. Located at 30 Harvard St., the agency is federally approved to provide refugee resettlement services.

"She doesn't have family here," Lantz says of Jamil. "She is what we call a ‘free case.' If a family member is living in the U.S. then every effort is made to go to wherever the families are. If they do not have this connection then they are sent to any processing center."

According to Refugee International, every individual refugee has to undergo rigorous security, background and health checks before they are admitted through the U.S. Refugee Program. First, the High Commission for Refugees must determine that the refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution if returned to their country of origin, and that he or she is not excluded for "having committed acts against humanity or war crimes."

The commission recently estimated that 2,000 Iraqis are displaced every day. The United Nations estimates that more than 2.2 million Iraqis have been displaced inside Iraq and another 2 million have fled the country since the conflict began in 2003.

The first step toward settlement can take several months. Refugee International states that if a refugee like Jamil is selected to move forward in the process, he or she will undergo up to six more interviews and security checks. In addition to checking the facts of a refugee's individual persecution claim, bio-data is collected during these interviews.

"The process is the same for all refugees," Lantz says. "Iraqis are no different from anybody else that we resettle in a procedural way. We are notified of particular cases that are looking for resettlement. We will then send notice back saying whether we will take this case."

Once a person arrives in Worcester, the process becomes one of integration. "We prepare living arrangements for them," Lantz says. "Then we take charge of what needs to be done in the way of employment, paperwork concerning their Social Security number application, welfare if applicable and refugee cash assistance if applicable.

"We enroll them in English classes, provide adult literacy classes, provide employment training and try to find jobs in order for them to be self-sufficient and responsible. That is a federal government guideline. They want them to be self-sufficient in four months."

At an April 2007 conference on Iraqi refugees in Geneva, the U.S. stated that it could take up to 25,000 Iraqi refugees. In August, Refugee International reported that the U.S. pledge to resettle 7,000 is more likely to be 2,000 who will be processed in fiscal 2007. Canada will accept approximately 5,000 and Australia will take nearly 1,000. It also noted that there are thousands of Iraqi asylum seekers in Europe.

When asked what she intends to do once she gets settled in Worcester, Jamil says, "I want to learn English and how to move in the city — so that I can communicate better with the world. Then I want to get a job."

Asked what she might say if she could speak directly to the American people, Jamil says, "I would like to thank the American people. I would also like to thank the IOM people, because they listened to and understood my son's problems. I will never forget them." o