Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Leave or Stay? U.S.-Employed Iraqis Ponder Opportunity

"Iraqis here are used to seeing foreigners come and go. There’s a large group of staff at the U.S. Embassy who are done with their year here and have started to leave. Journalists are in and out every few months or weeks, depending on their rotation. And soldiers head home after 15 months, which is changing to 12 months, after their tour is up. So Iraqis are accustomed to saying goodbye to their foreign friends and co-workers.

But a new program has many Iraqis I know discussing whether they will be the ones to leave. Under an expanded refugee program, the U.S. is now letting Iraqis who were or are employees of certain organizations or companies that are based in America to apply to go to the U.S. That includes Iraqis who work at U.S.-based media organizations. And unlike the program for Iraqis who work as translators for the U.S. military, which requires a year of employment, there is no criteria when it comes to length of employment.

Since word about the program began trickling out, the local staff of all the news organizations have been buzzing about it. Should they go? Should they stay? Who will they bring? Will life really be better in America? The entire staff of some news organizations have applied. During an embassy briefing to media organizations about the program, we joked that this was their plan to shut down all the news bureaus in Baghdad."
Baghdad Life

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