And These Refugees Are Lucky

Dahr Jamail, Inter Press Service

...I was a financial manager of seven companies in Baghdad, but I had to leave my house, my car, and just about everything," said 32-year-old Ali Ahmed. After militiamen fired at his car in the once upmarket Mansoor district of Baghdad, Ali fled to Jordan. He returned but his car was attacked again. Six men from his company were killed in the attack. And that was not all. "We had 11 engineers from one company detained by the Mehdi Army (the militia of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr)," he said. "We never heard from them again. I knew then that I had to drop everything and run for my life." Ali does not see himself returning soon. "I don't expect to go back for at least 15-20 years. I have left everything behind, and now I have nothing but a small food store I run here. But it is not enough. Not the UN, nor any government, least of all the Iraqi government, is doing enough to help us."...

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