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Nearly 30,000 refugees live in Connecticut today. They come from everywhere from Sudan to Cuba to Eritrea – and since the beginning of the Iraq war 10 years ago, more and more have come from there. Many resettle in New Haven with the help of a non-profit agency known as Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, or IRIS. WNPR’s Neena Satija reports.
Noor and Ben don’t want to reveal their real names. They still have family in Iraq they’re concerned about, and say the situation is very bad there. Here, they feel free.
“I love the freedom, the most important thing for everyone. The freedom. You can do anything now. No one will judge you," says Ben, helping translate for Noor.
Noor left Iraq in 2006 as the situation in Basra, where she lived, got worse and worse. She moved to Damascus, Syria and waited for 6 years to come to the States.
10 months ago, she finally got here with her four children. When she lived in Iraq, Noor says, she wasn’t allowed to leave the house without permission. Now, she can leave whenever she wants.
Noor recently found a job at a plastics factory, which she likes. She says many other Iraqi women work there.
It’s that freedom which Noor loves about living in the U.S. Still, life hasn’t been easy. while some of her children have adjusted well – her daughter has done so well in school she’s skipping eighth grade – others have not. Noor’s 17-year-old son is having a difficult time and wants to go home.
Noor’s son still deals with trauma from Iraq, too. At the age of eight, back when the war started, he was kidnapped for ten days. Noor’s husband, who she’s since left, was a jeweler, and she believes the kidnappers wanted his money. It cost a considerable sum to get him released. Now, Noor’s son refuses to go to school.
“All the time he’s lonely. In the room, with the laptop," she says.
Refugees from Iraq are always grateful to come here. Most of them have waited for years for the chance. But the initial honeymoon period is usually followed by some sort of reality check. The Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services agency, or IRIS, can help refugees with their rent only for the first six months. After that, they’re on their own. And for those who don’t speak any English, it’s particularly difficult. Ben, who worked as a physics teacher for a time in Iraq, was lucky. He knew some English when he came here, and he now helps IRIS as a translator for newcomers. When he greets people at the airport, he says, they’re usually happy.
“It’s the first coming. The first day. They are happy," he says. "And then, I don’t know. Maybe [they] feel happy or culture shock. It depends, on the person.”
For people like Ben, who were highly educated in Iraq, the job prospects here can also be somewhat of a surprise. Doctors and engineers are lucky to find entry-level factory jobs here. For Ben’s part, he expects to get a job as a waiter in a downtown New Haven restaurant soon. But he has a plan.
“I want to teach physics in one of the universities here in U.S. This is my dream," he says.
And Ben has a series of steps that he’s taking to get him there. First: English classes through IRIS. He’s finished that one. Second: Adult education. He’s almost done with that. Third: Community college.
Noor’s goal is to learn to drive, so she can get herself to work. She wants to explore the world beyond her neighborhood of East Rock in New Haven. Maybe go to New York. Whatever happens, she doesn’t see a life for her back in Iraq, and neither does Ben. At least, not in the near future. For WNPR, I’m Neena Satija.
