Iraqis watch anxiously as Congress nears deadline for special visas
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Amjad (right), an Iraqi translator, was affectionately nickamed "Danny" by Sergeant Peter Farley (left) and other US troops he worked with.
Tuesday 01 October 2013
Thousands of Iraqis who worked for US forces are anxiously hoping Congress will renew a programme to allow them to escape the violence of their country for a new life in America.
In the shadow of the looming US government shutdown, a second Congressional deadline looks likely to be missed. And this one could cost lives.
At 11.59pm tonight the little-known Iraqi special immigrant visa (SIV) programme will expire unless Congress makes a dramatic last-minute intervention to renew it.
For most Americans the State Department-administered programme to relocate translators and fixers that assisted US forces in Iraq is just a legislative footnote.
But for thousands of Iraqis who served with American troops in the darkest days of the war, it is their last, best chance best to escape from the lawlessness and violence that plagues Iraq a decade after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Those Iraqis are now looking on in disbelief as the minutes tick away until the programme closes. "We're being treated like bureaucratic waste," said one translator.
Around 2,000 Iraqis are estimated to be somewhere in the application process, all hoping that the visas will offer a lifeline out of the country to a new life in the United States.
Among those waiting and watching for news from Capitol Hill is Amjad, a 26-year-old Sunni translator who asked that his full name not be published for fear of reprisals from Shia militias that view him as a collaborator.
Speaking by phone from his rented flat in Basra, where he now lives because he is too afraid to return to his native Baghdad, Amjad told of the burden he felt to see the soldiers get out of Iraq unharmed.
"You treat them like brothers and you're scared to keep them safe until the end of the month when they are able to go home," he said. "They have all their lives, their families, their futures waiting for them."
Sergeant Peter Farley's mellow Massachusetts voice tightens with anger as he describes how America is failing to show the same duty of care to its former allies.
?Amjad became a brother to all of us. He wasn't just an Iraqi, he was one of us," he said. The troops affectionately nicknamed Amjad "Danny", taught him about their cherished New England Patriots and listened with amusement to the heavy metal renditions he would play on his guitar.
Despite being a Sunni working with the Americans on delicate policing missions in Shia neighbourhoods of east Baghdad, Amjad never wore a face mask to disguise his identity. "I wasn't ashamed of what we were doing," he said.
That decision has left him vulnerable to revenge attacks and he is now afraid to return to Baghdad for fear he might be recognised.
?While the politicians play these games it's life and death for the guys in Iraq,? said Sgt Farley.
Not all members of Congress are oblivious to the SIV programme's dwindling time and in fact it is widely supported by both Democrats and Republicans.
As of Monday morning a group of senators from both parties were weighing options for a last-minute rescue. In the unlikely event that a compromise is reached on a continuing resolution the SIV programme could be attached as an amendment. If not, it could be moved as a stand-alone bill introduced last week by Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
"We made a promise to thousands of Iraqi civilians who risked their lives helping our country during a time of war and now we must honour our commitment,? said Senator Shaheen.
If the deadline is missed, Congress could still retroactively reauthorise the SIV but even a brief a lapse could cause chaos in a programme and that is already painfully, and perhaps lethally, slow-moving.
When Congress first passed the 2008 law it provided for 25,000 visas, of which less than 6,000 have been allocated despite a years-long wait list. ?The enemy all along has been bureaucracy,? said Katherine Reisner, national policy director of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.
Another of those on the waiting list for a visa is Z, a 58-year-old who worked as both a translator and electrician for US forces and asked not to be identified.
The Sunni is living in hiding with his wife and two children after their home was burned by Shia militias. He believes there is still a price on his head and lives in constant fear that his 19-year-old son could be arrested by either the militias or their allies in the police and interior ministry.
Z began his application process in October 2010 and despite support from American legal advisers is still trying to navigate through the system.
"When the Americans needed us they were there like that but when they don't need us they just forget about us," he said via Skype. "We're like bureaucratic waste."
The State Department insists that is not the case, saying: "We recognise that many who have been employed or worked on behalf of the US government in Iraq, and their families, face real threats as a result of their US government affiliation."
Before he became involved in Amjad's case, Sgt Farley helped another Iraqi translator, Wisam, come to the US. They first applied for the SIV programme but after nearly two years of waiting, the State Department said it was not satisfied with their paperwork submissions.
"We were devastated, we were heartbroken," said Sgt Farley, whose wife had also become deeply emotionally invested in getting Wisam to Massachusetts.
The Farleys wrote to the state's two senators asking for their help. John Kerry, now the secretary of state, never replied but Scott Brown, a Republican who has since lost his seat, stepped in and wrote a letter of support.
With the backing of Mr Brown's office, the Farleys succeeded in getting Wisam into the US on a separate visa programme and the Iraqi lived with them and their two dogs for a year before setting up his own life in Boston.
Sgt Farley knows better than almost anyone the problems with SIV, calling it ?a huge failure by both the Bush and Obama administrations to help the people who helped us?.
Yet for all its shortcomings he remains convinced the programme is still the best hope for the US to repay its debts to Iraqis like Amjad.
?We're not saving nearly as many lives or helping as many people as we should but if you can save even one person's life, it's better than nothing.?
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Amjad (right), an Iraqi translator, was affectionately nickamed "Danny" by Sergeant Peter Farley (left) and other US troops he worked with.
Tuesday 01 October 2013
Thousands of Iraqis who worked for US forces are anxiously hoping Congress will renew a programme to allow them to escape the violence of their country for a new life in America.
In the shadow of the looming US government shutdown, a second Congressional deadline looks likely to be missed. And this one could cost lives.
At 11.59pm tonight the little-known Iraqi special immigrant visa (SIV) programme will expire unless Congress makes a dramatic last-minute intervention to renew it.
For most Americans the State Department-administered programme to relocate translators and fixers that assisted US forces in Iraq is just a legislative footnote.
But for thousands of Iraqis who served with American troops in the darkest days of the war, it is their last, best chance best to escape from the lawlessness and violence that plagues Iraq a decade after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Those Iraqis are now looking on in disbelief as the minutes tick away until the programme closes. "We're being treated like bureaucratic waste," said one translator.
Around 2,000 Iraqis are estimated to be somewhere in the application process, all hoping that the visas will offer a lifeline out of the country to a new life in the United States.
Among those waiting and watching for news from Capitol Hill is Amjad, a 26-year-old Sunni translator who asked that his full name not be published for fear of reprisals from Shia militias that view him as a collaborator.
Speaking by phone from his rented flat in Basra, where he now lives because he is too afraid to return to his native Baghdad, Amjad told of the burden he felt to see the soldiers get out of Iraq unharmed.
"You treat them like brothers and you're scared to keep them safe until the end of the month when they are able to go home," he said. "They have all their lives, their families, their futures waiting for them."
Sergeant Peter Farley's mellow Massachusetts voice tightens with anger as he describes how America is failing to show the same duty of care to its former allies.
?Amjad became a brother to all of us. He wasn't just an Iraqi, he was one of us," he said. The troops affectionately nicknamed Amjad "Danny", taught him about their cherished New England Patriots and listened with amusement to the heavy metal renditions he would play on his guitar.
Despite being a Sunni working with the Americans on delicate policing missions in Shia neighbourhoods of east Baghdad, Amjad never wore a face mask to disguise his identity. "I wasn't ashamed of what we were doing," he said.
That decision has left him vulnerable to revenge attacks and he is now afraid to return to Baghdad for fear he might be recognised.
?While the politicians play these games it's life and death for the guys in Iraq,? said Sgt Farley.
Not all members of Congress are oblivious to the SIV programme's dwindling time and in fact it is widely supported by both Democrats and Republicans.
As of Monday morning a group of senators from both parties were weighing options for a last-minute rescue. In the unlikely event that a compromise is reached on a continuing resolution the SIV programme could be attached as an amendment. If not, it could be moved as a stand-alone bill introduced last week by Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
"We made a promise to thousands of Iraqi civilians who risked their lives helping our country during a time of war and now we must honour our commitment,? said Senator Shaheen.
If the deadline is missed, Congress could still retroactively reauthorise the SIV but even a brief a lapse could cause chaos in a programme and that is already painfully, and perhaps lethally, slow-moving.
When Congress first passed the 2008 law it provided for 25,000 visas, of which less than 6,000 have been allocated despite a years-long wait list. ?The enemy all along has been bureaucracy,? said Katherine Reisner, national policy director of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.
Another of those on the waiting list for a visa is Z, a 58-year-old who worked as both a translator and electrician for US forces and asked not to be identified.
The Sunni is living in hiding with his wife and two children after their home was burned by Shia militias. He believes there is still a price on his head and lives in constant fear that his 19-year-old son could be arrested by either the militias or their allies in the police and interior ministry.
Z began his application process in October 2010 and despite support from American legal advisers is still trying to navigate through the system.
"When the Americans needed us they were there like that but when they don't need us they just forget about us," he said via Skype. "We're like bureaucratic waste."
The State Department insists that is not the case, saying: "We recognise that many who have been employed or worked on behalf of the US government in Iraq, and their families, face real threats as a result of their US government affiliation."
Before he became involved in Amjad's case, Sgt Farley helped another Iraqi translator, Wisam, come to the US. They first applied for the SIV programme but after nearly two years of waiting, the State Department said it was not satisfied with their paperwork submissions.
"We were devastated, we were heartbroken," said Sgt Farley, whose wife had also become deeply emotionally invested in getting Wisam to Massachusetts.
The Farleys wrote to the state's two senators asking for their help. John Kerry, now the secretary of state, never replied but Scott Brown, a Republican who has since lost his seat, stepped in and wrote a letter of support.
With the backing of Mr Brown's office, the Farleys succeeded in getting Wisam into the US on a separate visa programme and the Iraqi lived with them and their two dogs for a year before setting up his own life in Boston.
Sgt Farley knows better than almost anyone the problems with SIV, calling it ?a huge failure by both the Bush and Obama administrations to help the people who helped us?.
Yet for all its shortcomings he remains convinced the programme is still the best hope for the US to repay its debts to Iraqis like Amjad.
?We're not saving nearly as many lives or helping as many people as we should but if you can save even one person's life, it's better than nothing.?
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