Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project

Below are a few photos of Mustafa, 9. Due to war, instability, and chaos, Mustafa was exposed to High Pressure Electricity Current that passes over his home on Nov. 11th, 2009 in Najaf. The accident caused him the loss of his right leg (under knee) and two toes of his left foot.

Mustafa is in Minneapolis for medical treatment, thanks to St. Joan of Arc Church, Shriner’s Hospital, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, IARP, and other generous donors.

In Minneapolis:

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The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) organizes law students and attorneys to provide legal representation to Iraqi refugees and helps them navigate the rules and processes of resettlement in the US. Iraq’s 4.7 million displaced form one of the largest refugee crises in history.

As IRAP’s website explains, war and sectarian violence in Iraq have forced thousands to flee for their lives and become stranded in other Middle Eastern countries. These people cannot return to Iraq without risking their lives, so they are forced to seek refuge elsewhere. But the process of gaining admittance to the few western countries that accept them is difficult.

The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project was started by graduate students at Yale Law School to provide legal representation and policy advocacy on behalf of Iraqi refugees seeking resettlement, and to assist those who have resettled. Eight other law schools and several hundred volunteers including students, lawyers and advocates have joined the effort to deal with this humanitarian crisis.

Click here to visit IRAP’s website.

When was the last time you heard something in the news about Iraqi refugees? Sadly, the ongoing crisis–one of the largest refugee crises in history–has left the media spotlight. Yet millions of Iraqis remain displaced, with no home and an uncertain future.

Consider the following (from the website of The Unreturned):

• 4.7 million Iraqis were displaced by the Iraq War (Source: UNHCR, Refugees International)
• By 2010, only nine percent of the displaced had returned (Source: Refugees International)
• Forty percent of Iraq’s middle class has fled to neighboring Syria and Jordan (Source: UNHCR, San Francisco Chronicle)
• The US has committed to admitting a total of 50,000 Iraqi refugees by 2011 (Source: Human Rights First, Reuters)
• If this target is met, the United States will have accepted just 1% of the total Iraqi displaced (Source: 50000/4274000=0.0117; 4274000 = 4700000 displaced – 426000 returnees)
• Today, there are half as many health care workers in Iraq as there were in 2000 (Source: Refugees International, The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children)

Many Americans, including the leading Catholic bishop in the U.S., agree that the U.S. holds at least some degree of responsibility toward Iraqis and Iraq’s future.  If you would like to learn more about the Iraqi refugee crisis, here are a few places to check out:

• The Unreturned, an award-winning documentary film that follows the lives of five middle-class Iraqi refugee families.
• The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), which organizes law students and attorneys to provide legal representation to Iraqi refugees and helps them navigate the rules and processes of resettlement in the US. IRAP “was started by graduate students at Yale Law School to provide legal representation and policy advocacy on behalf of Iraqi refugees seeking resettlement, and to assist those who have resettled. Eight other law schools and several hundred volunteers including students, lawyers and advocates have joined the effort to deal with this humanitarian crisis.”
• The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies “maintains the single largest list of Iraqis who are imperiled because they helped America.”

The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project is beginning to work with these and other organizations that provide aid and support to Iraqi refugees.

Check out the Veterans Book Project, a library of books authored collaboratively by artist Monica Haller and dozens of people who have been affected by, and have archives of, the current American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In their printed format, the books provide a place or “container” that slows down and materializes the great quantity of ephemeral image files that live on veterans’ hard drives and in their heads.

Each book re-deploys volatile images with the aim of rearticulating and refashioning memories. It stands both independent of and in concert with the larger collection.

You can support the Veterans Book Project here.

Zuhair Sharba

Zuhair Sharba, President of the Najaf Chamber of Commerce, arrived in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 4. Mr. Sharba is in Minneapolis to meet with local government and business professionals about expanding trade between Minnesota and Najaf, Iraq.

Mr. Sharba was a member of the first official delegation from Najaf to Minneapolis in September of 2009 after the two cities became official Sister Cities in July of 2009. Since the beginning of that relationship, Minneapolis has welcomed multiple delegations from Najaf, including artists, business professionals, academics, and individuals injured by the war coming for medical treatment. A mental health professional from Minneapolis traveled to Najaf in January, 2010 to conduct trainings on identifying and treating mental health needs in a post-war context and a team of academics from Augsburg College plans to visit Najaf in January, 2011.

Mr. Sharba’s current visit builds on the relationships and trust established during previous delegation exchanges and will lay the ground for increased trade and business between the two cities. Najaf is a growing economic and cultural center in southern Iraq and many Minnesotan businesses have expressed interest in working there. The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) in Minneapolis and the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) in Najaf are facilitating Mr. Sharba’s visit as an Iraqi-led trade mission and effort to promote the economic recovery of Iraq.

As President Obama holds high-level meetings to expand US trade and business in Asia, IARP is working at the local level to build economic ties that promote not only business but peaceful relationships. Mr. Sharba’s trip will expand economic opportunity for both Iraqis and Americans, but it is also part of a larger relationship growing between the people of Minneapolis and Najaf.

If you would like to inquire about a meeting with Mr. Sharba, please contact Luke Wilcox at luke@reconciliationproject.org.