Syria Tries to Cope with Influx of Iraqi Refugees

by via NPR

Sat, Sep 15, 2007 8:31AM

Thursday, September 13, 2007 : Cannon booms across Damascus signal the start of Ramadan, a month when Muslims fast during the day and feast after sundown. It's a month when the rich feed the poor in mosques all over the city. It's also a time to reflect on charity and compassion, but charity and compassion are strained in Syria as the country aims to uncover how to cope with more than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees.

One of the last routes for Iraqis to leave their country closed this week. Entry into neighboring Syria has been effectively cut off since Syria imposed new visa restrictions.

More than 30,000 Iraqis had been crossing every month. Syria has taken in more Iraqi refugees than any other country, but the cost has been enormous – and the welcome has worn thin.

The strain is evident in the stories that Iraqis and Syrians tell.

Arabesque, one of the most popular new radio stations in Damascus, has thousands of listeners to a morning call-in show. In this security state, Syrians don't often express controversial opinions, but Lena Showaf, the station's director, recalls a recent morning when the talk turned to the refugees.

"All the people want to talk," she says. "We had enough — we don't want — it's not good for the Syrian people."

Rime Alaf, a Syrian political analyst, says pressure has been building over the past year.

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§Iraqi Refugee Helps Others in Damascus

by via NPR

Sat, Sep 15, 2007 8:31AM

Monday, September 10, 2007 : Ahlam al Goubori, a 42-year-old mother of three, believed in the American project in Iraq. She signed on to rebuild her country and was kidnapped and tortured in reprisal. Her story is all too common among Iraqi refugees in exile in Damascus. Goubori is one of the few Iraqis willing to admit working for the United States in Iraq.

"I have so many friends working for the Americans," she said. "But they never say so because they are afraid."

Goubori said that members of Iraq's deadly militias have spies within the refugee community in Syria. "They have their own 'eyes' in every district, so the Iraqis are afraid that their families will be targeted back home."

She said she feels abandoned by the government she worked for. A refugee now, her application for resettlement in the United States is on hold, she said. "I'm qualified, but I am waiting for the answer. The American government will judge it," Goubori said, as she flipped through the stack of recommendations.

Goubori and her family fled to Damascus two years ago after her brothers paid a ransom to Al Qaida in Iraq to save her life. She was tortured for eight days and had a mild heart attack after her release.

A small apartment in Damascus is now home, furnished with threadbare couches, floor mats for beds and little else.

She keeps a tidy blue folder of letters, recommendations from Americans who said they were grateful for her humanitarian work.

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