ANNIE TRITT PHOTOGRAPHY

reportage: When a Refugee is Not A Refugee

A severe refugee crisis is but another consequence of the war in Iraq. The violence in Iraq has prompted more than 1 out of every 7 Iraqis to flee their country in search of safety. Many fled to Jordan. Families have discovered that while escaping the war's chaos, their new challenges are almost as devastating.

Safia and her family are one of the estimated 750,000 to 1 million plus Iraqis who fled to Amman after her father was tortured and murdered. The designation “refugee” does not exist in Jordan. Iraqis are forbidden from working, their children cannot attend public school and they have little or no access to health care. Unless they have the required $150,000 USD needed to meet residency requirements, after 3 months they are subject to deportation to their homeland. For many to return to Iraq is a death warrant.

Note: All Names have been changed and locations omitted.

Mahatta, Amman, Jordan as seen from a rooftop. It is one of the poorest neighborhoods and quickly becoming largely Iraqi.Refugee International, an advocacy group, called on the Bush administration to do more. They called the $100 million pledged by the United States a "mere fraction" of what countries like Jordan and Syria are spending to support their growing refugee populations. The group warned, "economies could collapse and political unrest could arise if Jordan and Syria in particular do not receive help now."The U.S. has admited only 68 Iraqis in the past 7 months.
   
Ahmed in his one room home in Amman, Jordan. Ahmed a cab driver took the family to Amman so his son could get treatment at the MSF clinic in Amman. Ahmed has not left his house in 4 months as he fears being deported
   
     
  
Selima's prepares diner as in the familys one room home, in Amman, Jordan, April 28, 2007. Zara,8, fell asleep and Omar and Malik watch TV. Their dad sits alone. in Bagdad they lived in a two story house.
   
An Iraqi woman shows the pictures of her husband's torture which she carries with her at all times. Afraid of being deported since she does not have refugee status, she plans to show them to police as her reason for fleeing the country. The religious violence seen in Iraq today was not present until the fall of the Saddam regime. Refugees say that previously Sunnis and Shias lived together and most were not aware of the sect to which their neighbors or friends belonged.
   
"D...dog, don't," shouts Malik, 7, right. Iraqi children are not able to attend the public schools in Amman, unless they have the 150,000 USD needed for residency, and so have left all formal education in Iraq. Mothers eager for their children to learn will often teach what they can at home. Malik's mother, a former schoolteacher from Iraq, has been teaching herself English and in turn teaching it to others. Malik, eager to learn, carries a book in which she has foreigners write every word she asks about, in English and Arabic. "We will go to Australia," she says, "They speak English there." "I love English, " she proudly says in English. The family had gone to the doctor earlier in the week and the doctor was concerned about Malik's weight and thought it might prevent the family from obtaining a visa. Malik weighs just 14 kg at age 7. It is called "failure to thrive" and comon among Iraqi children.
     
  
Safia,7, writes in her notebook. She has never attended school and does not know how to write letters or read. She wants to go to school and sometimes pretends that she is going while getting ready to go to the market with her mother to sell cigarettes.
  
  
"Fighting in Basra, fighting in Basra," Omar’s sings as he comes in to watch TV. Many Iraqis watch TV from Iraq all day. They often look to see how many people were killed that day and in what neighborhood. The children also as a result watch the reporting, mostly of violence.
     
  
Safia, 7, holds her father's death certificate.
  
Yara, 45, is told that no one can help her with her breast cancer. There are only a few organizations that help Iraqis but most are limited in what they can do. Yara needs chemotherapy and a biopsy but has no means to treat it. "I am gong to die,"” she says. Her daughter, Ashwak, is diagnosed as having failure to thrive. About 70 percent of what the doctors see at the clinic are depression related.
   
Selima in the mirror of her kitchen. What will happen to these and the other miliions of Iraqi "refugees" is now in the world's hands.
     
  
Rose is grief stricken at the funeral service for her best friend and cousin, Saif. Rose ,a dentist from Iraq, is in Jordan taking care of her father who has been unable to obtain a visa to a different country. Her mother died two months before and she does not want to leave her father alone. Her husband is in Australia. Neither one is allowed to work in the country so they are just waiting.
   
A funeral service, in Amman, for 22 year old Saif who was killed when a bomb exploded near his locker at school. He was in his last week of dental school. Saif's family made the decision to stay in Iraq and finish his education because they would be unable to do so in Amman where many of his family members and cousins are. His relatives in Amman held a memorial service for him.
  
Yasin holds his son Kadir,3, at his home in Amman, Jordan. Kadir was injured when a bomb exploded as he was buying sweets with his uncle. Yasin, a Shia and taxi driver, spent all of his savings treating the injury. Kadir is in need of more surgeries but they cannot be done in Jordan.
     
  
Hasa Al-Tamimi who was a successful businessman in Iraq, looks at the mosque behind his home in Amman, Jordan.In 2003, just after the invasion a group of masked gunmen forced, his son, Haidar out of his car and threatened to shoot him. He manged to escape but was badly beaten.Once his son came home and told his tale, Al-Tamimi decided then and there to get his family out of Iraq.Today, Al-Tamimi has lost his legal residency because of tightened Jordanian rules. He fears leaving the country to look for better opportunities because he might not be allowed to return to his family. None of his children can work and they're burning through their savings.