How to help...

March 23, 2007 3:30 PM

How do I help an Iraqi dentist friend?

I worked for about a year in Iraq, for a private contractor trying to strengthen institutions of local government. Noble work in some ways, but ultimately misguided and outrageously mismanaged.

Anyway. The guy who was my assistant, translator and friend, like a brother practically, began getting death threats and being harassed by militia, this escalated into other bad things happening to him and his family and a couple of months ago he fled to Syria, where he (like thousands of other Iraqis) is now living illegally. But he can't work, is running out of money and getting a little desperate. While he worked for a US organization and was targeted because of that, there's little hope of a refugee visa to the US, since that would mean the administration would have to admit that things aren't quite going according to plan.

How do I help him? I could send him some money, but that's not going to help for long. He's a dentist and would love to work as a dentist; can I help him get into a dental school somewhere? He's a male in his early 30s with no family in the US, so a regular US visa is going to be unlikely. Are there other countries more ammenable to Iraqi refugees? Any ideas?


More info on Iraqi refugees:
http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iraq021203/4.htm
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070205/lam

posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy to law & government (5 comments total)

It's probably worth looking into the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme in the UK.
posted by teleskiving at 3:47 PM on March 23, 2007

Yes; get him out of there. "Applying to come to Canada as a skilled worker is not difficult..."

Interesting:

Ellen Sauerbrey, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for migration and refugees, has called on Canada to make Iraqi refugees "a priority in their resettlement policy, because this is an area of tremendous need and vulnerability."

(From Macleans, which also notes that "Life for them in Syria and Jordan is unbearable." Sigh.)
posted by kmennie at 4:22 PM on March 23, 2007

Sweden is, at least for now, a possibility, too.
posted by loosemouth at 4:39 PM on March 23, 2007

Not immediately helpful, but you might want to have a look at George Packer's "Betrayed" in the current New Yorker. He discusses the plight of Iraqi translators who have worked with the Americans; two of them, at least, are now in Sweden.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:26 PM on March 23, 2007

While the skilled worker programs are an option, he seems to meet the criteria for refugee status (meaning that a) he didn't leave his country seeking better economic opportunities -i.e., economic migrant b) he is not seeking political asylum , given that he wasn't part of a militia or a political group).

I believe in his case particular case it's better to apply as a refugee than as a skilled worker. The situation for refugees is a humanitarian concern, while economic migrants are seen as people seeking to improve their standard of life and might be subject to tougher filters. If his situation is clear enough and he cannot go back to his country of origin, there is a huge chance that the UNHCR might be able to help him. He needs to be "resettled," and there are countries that have resettlement programs.

Tell him to look for the UNHCR or the UNDP offices in Syria. This is exactly the kind of stuff they do and, believe me, it does work, I've seen it firsthand.

Another important note is that he doesn't have to be living legally in the country where he is to contact the UNHCR, they understand all the problems that being a refugee involves. They won't turn him in to the authorities and perhaps, if he is running out of money they could help him a bit through one of their "implementing partners."

I honestly believe this is a better option for him, and it might also be the quickest. If you have additional questions, my email is in my profile.
posted by micayetoca at 9:55 AM on March 24, 2007