IRAQ: Fu'ad Ahmed, Iraq, "I have no job, no food, no home and no respect"

IRIN

Fu'ad Ahmed is a 47-year-old Palestinian father of two who has been living in Iraq for the past 18 years. "My children grew up here [in Baghdad] and we always had good relations with all Iraqis but in the past few years my situation in this country has become terrible. "My daughter, Hanan was married to an Iraqi but was forced to divorce him because his family didn't want to have Palestinian blood in their future children. "My son Waleed and his wife were killed in July 2006 by militia men who accused him of participating in the insurgency but he was a good boy. Since his death my wife has developed serious psychological problems. Because I am unemployed, I cannot afford medical treatment for her. "I had never before been without a job in Iraq but I haven't had a job now for the past three years. When employers learn that I'm Palestinian they just give me a silly excuse and tell me to look elsewhere (...) "I don't have money to leave Iraq. All my savings were stolen by Iraqi soldiers when they raided my home in December 2005. I went to a police station to seek help to recover my money but the only answer I got was that I should be thankful to be alive because Saddam's followers were being killed every day. "I'm desperate. I have no job, no food, no home and no respect (...) "We'd been very well treated and respected during Saddam Hussein's time. We were like any other Iraqi, receiving monthly food rations, free health and education and working in any place without trouble...

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