U.S. Abandons Iraqi Translators to Their Fates While Diminutive Denmark Rescues Its Own

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/57902/

A followup to the harrowing tale of "Andy," the local interpreter who is fighting for his life after serving the U.S. military in Iraq.

I recently wrote about the dire situation of "Andy," an Iraqi interpreter who has worked for the U.S. military for nearly four years, and his young wife and their two babies. As a result of his work with the U.S. Army, their home was bombed, Andy's father and brother were murdered and their own lives were threatened. Since last April they have been caught in a seemingly endless tangle of U.S. State Department red tape.

When the story was published on July 10, they had been approved for a visa to the United States and were waiting to fly the following Saturday from Basra, Iraq, to Amman, Jordan, where they would be processed at the U.S. Embassy before going on to start a new life in the United States. After a heartbreaking farewell to their families, the couple and their 2-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter boarded the plane in Basra along with about 60 other Iraqis -- men, women and children. Andy's mother was especially shattered to say good-bye; after losing her husband and Andy's brother, she now fears she will never again see Andy and Alysse and her grandchildren.

The flight from Basra to Amman is pretty short, as the two cities are only about 700 miles and one time zone apart. When the plane arrived in Amman, the passengers were detained at the airport by Jordanian authorities. They were kept for hours without food or bedding or supplies. Finally, they were given devastating news: Jordanian authorities told them they would be deported back to Iraq as soon as a plane arrived, either later that night or early the next day -- an almost certain death sentence for Andy and his family as well as for others in the group. Everyone's passport was stamped "Never to Enter Jordan Again." They were given no reason for this treatment except: "You are Iraqi."

After a few hours Andy was able to borrow a mobile phone with international minutes. He called me, desperate. I asked him if I could speak with a Jordanian official. The Jordanians refused to talk to me. I called and emailed every person I could think of in Amman, including U.S. Ambassador to Jordan David Hale, and in Washington, D.C., but of course it was Saturday and nobody was reachable. Next I called the kindly proprietor of the Toledo Hotel in Amman, at which I'd made a reservation for Andy and his family. I'd already been calling Mr. Barakat for hours, wondering if the driver he'd sent to pick them up at the airport might somehow have missed them. Mr. Barakat in turn spoke to the Iraqi Airways personnel who had flown the plane from Basra, regular guests at the Toledo. The pilots told him this was par for the course nowadays; they would fly in a planeload of Iraqi refugees, and the Jordanians would just ship them all back to Iraq. Iraqi Airways apparently has no qualms about accepting the high airfare from people it knows won't ever reach their intended destination.