Here is a story, this time from USA Today, about Iraqi refugees hearing that life is tough in the US and having second thoughts about coming,
BAGHDAD — When Haider Abbas applied for a refugee visa to the U.S. more than a year ago, moving to America seemed like a no-brainer.
An American contractor for whom Abbas had worked in Baghdad early in the war told him he could get him a job at his Northern Virginia company. And Abbas’ younger brother, who was among the first to win the special refugee visas being allotted to Iraqis, was already on his way to the United States.
Then, earlier this year, the U.S. economy soured. Abbas’ former boss told him he probably couldn’t help him find work after all. The younger brother, an engineer by training, could find work in America only as a pizza delivery man.
Now, Abbas is uncertain whether he should stay or go.
“This is something I have wanted for such a long time, but now with the U.S. economy the way it is, I worry how I’ll be able to find a job and care for my family,” said Abbas, 37, who recently was informed that his visa was approved. “I feel very confused.”
There are signs that Iraqis who win refugee visas are increasingly having second thoughts about moving to America.
Then here is the bit in this article that we didn’t know, and I bet most Iraqis in the US don’t know—-the Iraqi government is helping Iraqis go home!
Lina Omar, a foreign service officer in the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, also said that some Iraqis are reconsidering their options in light of improved security in Iraq.
“Many families are hearing from those who have already arrived that the financial support they are going to receive is for a very limited period of time, and that making ends meet will be difficult,” Omar said.
A few have become so discouraged that they’ve given up on the U.S. altogether. Omar said the Iraqi government is helping several Iraqi refugee families, who said they can’t make it financially, return to Iraq.