Iraqi Refugees in Cairo: Monologues



Amira | 52 | 6th of October City (Narrated by Maura Guyler)

My life in Iraq was good. It was my first home and it had the most important things. Peace, stability, and security. There were laws and things were organized. Of course things weren’t perfect under Saddam, but I was able to live and able to see a future for my children. Now, the militias are taking revenge and destroying Iraq. I can never go back.

At first, I thought the war would end quickly. It was calm initially; I continued to work. But in 2006, everything changed. The Shi’ite mosque in Samarra was bombed and then the war broke out between the Sunnis and Shia. Before this, all that was important was that you were Iraqi. There was no divide between Sunni or Shia.

In Baghdad, I lived in El-Jadria. It was close to the American military base and there were troops everywhere. We felt, you know, protected because of all the military. Me? I never imagined that something bad could happen. But after 2006, I learned I was living in a Shi’ite region, which is dangerous because my family is Sunni. You know Mehdi army? No? They are a Shi’ite militia from Iran and wanted all Sunnis out of Iraq.  Sometimes I would go to my garden and find bullet casings. I didn’t believe the threats until the Mehdi army kidnapped my son Mustafa.

Mustafa went to a teacher’s house for tutoring one afternoon. I was afraid something happened because he was very late. I called the teacher who told me that as Mustafa left, men pulled up in a van and took him. He was gone for ten days. He was tortured. I paid to get Mustafa back, but they were not after money. They were taking revenge because my family was Sunni. Because my husband was a translator. Because I was a woman and had a job. This destroyed Mustafa. After this, we couldn’t live in Iraq.

I don’t hate Americans because of the war. I just wish that they would’ve given us a good government that works for Iraqis, that they had set some rules before they left. The current regime is loyal to Iran, 100%. The Americans shouldn’t have remained in control. They took everything from us. We have no job, no work, no retirement salary. They destroyed the Iraqi army. I worked for twenty-five years, and now my only source of income is the rent from my house in Iraq.

My life now? Miserable. I do not feel safe here. Morsi will destroy Egypt just as Hussein destroyed Iraq if left in power. I am living with no goals. I have no job, my son has no job. What do I have to live for? Everyone is half living and half dead. I am dying slowly.

If my life was a book? That’s a difficult question. My life, that’s it.