In the News

Program helps Iraqi refugees prepare for college in U.S.
Journal Times (WI) - 1/4/2010

UN agency mobilizes Iraqis to extend helping hand to fellow refugees in Syria
UN News Centre - 12/31/2009

Remembering Iraq's Refugees
LA Times - 12/30/2009

Iraqi Refugee Stories

My life is being wasted here."
Mirah From the small city of Kut in the south of Iraq, "Mirah," now 27, was working on a degree in English at her local university when the U.S.entered Iraq in 2003. Read Mirah's story.

"Ali," Age 40 >>

Iraqis Who Have Worked with the United States

The badges and medal belong to an engineer and translator who worked with the U.S. troops in Anbar province. His family was attacked and threatened as a result of his cooperation. One of his brothers was kidnapped and presumably murdered. His head was grazed by a bullet. He fled to Amman, Jordan, seeking safety

According to the U.S. Department of State, 115,826 Iraqis are employed by U.S. government programs.¹

The U.S. has granted 1,409 Special Immigrant Visas to Iraqi translators and their families as of the end of March 2008.²

“We are committed to honoring our moral debt to those Iraqis who have provided assistance to the United States military and embassy.”
Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky, May 2007

(download as PDF)

Who is at risk?

Iraqis working for Department of Defense and its contractors, according to Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues Ambassador James Foley	Tens of thousands ³
Iraqis working for Department of State and USAID, according to Amb. Foley	Thousands ⁴
Iraqis employed by a single contractor, Bechtel Corporation	More than 40,000 ⁵
Iraqi Bechtel employees potentially at risk due to their U.S. affiliation, according to the company	All ⁶
Translators working for a single contractor, Titan Corporation, killed between 2003 and January 2007	257 ⁷
Iraqi media workers killed since 2003 (working for either a foreign or a local agency)	154 ⁸

How has the U.S. responded?

Iraqi refugees UNHCR referred to the U.S. from January 2007 through April 2008	24,174 ⁹
Iraqis the United States admitted as refugees from January 2007 through April 2008	5,175 ¹⁰
Percentage of UNHCR referrals who are Iraqis who have worked for the United States	5% ¹¹
Iraqi translators and their family members granted Special Immigrant Visas as of the end of March 2008	1,409 ¹²
Number of U.S.-affiliated Iraqis whose cases have been documented and submitted to the State Department by Kirk Johnson, former USAID employee in Iraq and refugee advocate	About 1,000 ¹³
Number from Kirk Johnson’s list who have made it to the United States	40 (including family members)

1 Department of State (http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/104604.pdf)
2 Department of State (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/apr/103623.htm) The U.S. Government does not track how many individuals granted Special Immigrant Visas actually enter the U.S.
3 Ambassador James Foley, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight and Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Hearing on Iraqi Refugees, March 11, 2008.
4 Id.
5 Bechtel Corporation (http://www.bechtel.com/milestones2.html)
6 Conversation with a Bechtel spokesperson.
7 Joel Millman and Gina Chon, Lost in Translation, Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2007.
8 Committee to Protect Journalists (http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html)
9 UNHCR, Iraq Situation Update, March 2008; UNHCR, Iraq Situation Update, April-May 2008.
10 Department of State (http://www.wrapsnet.org/Reports/AdmissionsArrivals/tabid/211/language/en-US/Default.aspx)
11 Based on the more than 9,000 UNHCR referrals as of August, 2007 (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/world/middleeast/29refugees.html?_r=1&oref=login )
12 Department of State (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/apr/103623.htm)
13 E-mail correspondence with Kirk Johnson.