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This booklet is a basic introduction to the people, history, and cultures
of Iraq. It is designed primarily for service providers and others assisting
the Iraqi refugees in their new communities in the United States.
The principal writer is Barbara Robson, a linguist and writer
with many years of experience teaching, working, and traveling in the
Middle East and in the field of refugee and immigrant education. She has
taught Turkish in the United States and English in Turkey, written textbooks
on the Pashto language spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and designed
and implemented ESL and native language literacy projects in refugee camps
in Thailand. Margaret Kleffner Nydell, the author of the section on the
Arabic language, is a linguist who has written several books on Arabic
and Arabic culture and has directed Arabic language training at the Foreign
Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State.
We would like to thank our colleagues at CAL for their valuable
contributions to this booklet: Grace Stovall Burkart for researching the
history section and Dora Johnson for her bicultural insights and suggestions
throughout the development of the manuscript.
Many people have read and commented on drafts of the manuscript.
In particular, we would like to thank Mohamad Hanon, a refugee from Iraq
who is organizing the first Iraqi Mutual Assistance Association; Chris
Meléndez, Refugee Processing Supervisor, Immigration and Refugee
Services of America, formerly Joint Voluntary Agency representative for
refugee processing in Saudi Arabia; Melineh Kano, Program Coordinator
for Interchurch Refugee and Immigration Ministries in Chicago, Illinois;
Paul Jericho, Executive Director, and Akeel Abbas, Case Manager for Iraqi
resettlement, at the International Institute of Erie, Pennsylvania; and
Michael Metrinko, Director of Europe, Near East, and South Asia Humanitarian
Assistance, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department
of State.
Finally, we would like to thank the Bureau of Population,
Refugees, and Migration of the U.S. Department of State, whose support
made this fact sheet possible.
Donald A. Ranard, Editor
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REFUGEE FACT SHEET NO.11