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The Harsh Reality for Civilians in Iraq: A Close-Up Look

Meet Reem, Abdalah, Ouhoud and Zaman whom we found in a refugee house in Karbala. They all lost their fathers 8 days ago, when ISIS killed the military personnel and the government affiliate (Sahwat) in the western town of Garma (North-East of Falluja).

After a clash between ISIS and the Assayeb Al Haq militia1, resulting with the death of their fathers and the shelling of their homes, the children and their mothers walked 7 kilometers in the fields and crossed the river to reach to Al Temim’s tribes, and then managed to ride on a truck driving towards Karbala. In the last checkpoint before the city, they were told they are not allowed to continue because they come from “Sunni” cities and they might be terrorists, and that will need guarantors. A local judge heard of their dilemma and rose up to the occasion. Judge Al Hilali guaranteed all 46 women and their children, made a house available for their stay in Karbala, where all the traumatized women, 30 orphaned and orphan-to-be children sat in extremely crowded rooms. OWFI visited them the house on Thursday, getting clothes for the mothers who escaped in nightgowns, milk for the children, and handed bags of food to support them for a few days.

                                                                                                                         1  Affiliates  of  Prime  Minister’s  Shia  Da’wa  ruling  Political  Party  

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Baraa, 24 years old, was sleeping next to her husband in Garma, when ISIS stormed into the house and put their bullets into her husband punishing him for being a policeman. Baraa was lucky to escape with her 3 children who were crying when we arrived, none of them had any milk in three days.

Afrah never stopped smiling at her baby Jannat, wishing not to let her feel the agony they were undergoing. Afrah still doesn’t know if her husband is alive, after being kidnapped by al Assayeb Al Haq. She fled the shelling and fighting with the other women, and is waiting to hear from him … but the news of fighting and take-over of Garma are not promising…and some say it is bad news.

Abou Fahmy, 80 years old, was the only adult male in the house. He lost 3 sons to the fight with ISIS in this battle of Garma. He is still shocked at how the Iraqi army personnel, who used to meet daily in his house, abandoned them with no second thoughts. His sons paid the price with their lives. Abou Fahmi

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accompanied is three widowed daughters in addition to his sons’ widows, with many orphaned children all of whom are his grandchildren. The escape became easier when they found a truck and headed towards Karbala. Abou Fahmi continues: "we even picked up children who had no parents left … they are with us in this house now.”

On Friday, OWFI visited Ain Al Tamer town, which is the first stop for refugees from Anbar. The authorities tell us that there are 2000 refugees in their small town. We used the municipality building to distribute humanitarian aid to the families of women who had left their houses for the last 8 months, but had some roof on top of their heads and were slightly better organised.

And yet, some of the women looked broken beyond repair. Zouhour2, in her early twenties, lost her husband who joined the Mujahidin3 in Ramadi, earlier this year, after which she became the target of sexual exploitation of the ISIS warriors. After the battles became too fierce, she fled with her mother to Ain Al Tamer, and received shelter and assistance by the local authorities, where the word leaked that she is the widow of a Mujahid. Members of Assayeb al Haq militia (the Shia side of the battles) found it an opportunity to exploit her sexually too. It turns out all militia culture allows exploitation and degradation of women, and not only ISIS. OWFI women spoke to Zouhour assuring her that there is a third alternative, that we will give her and mother a room where their dignity will be safe from all predators. We still need to work on gaining her confidence, as she has not witnessed any goodness on both sides of the fight.

There are some women who we were late to meet, such as Salima (Alias), who fled Telafar in a very difficult night. ISIS kicked their door open in the middle of the night, killed her husband, and her 8-year-old son, kidnapped her 14-year-old daughter, and insulted her. Salima ran away in a torn nightgown with the thousands who fled. She ended up in front of the mosque of Karbala, where the locals sheltered her, until a relative came from Baghdad.

Her story, brought by one of OWFI’s leaders Jannat Al Ghezzi, made us rush to Karbala and meet the locals who explained to us what could be done to ease the refugees suffering.

OWFI’s Jannat and Hassan found a small building of 8 apartments in central Karbala where tens of the more vulnerable families can be sheltered, until the end of the crisis. The Human Rights Commission of Karbala expressed their encouragement and support of the initiative.

OWFI’s team distributed bags of food (mostly dry food: rice, lentil, sugar, tea, powder milk, and other) to 80 families in Karbala and Ain Al Tamer.

OWFI’s Samarra Branch: had distributed food bags to 80 distressed families in mid June. The city gets frequently attacked and surrounded by the ISIS warriors who have listings of locals who defied them and Al Qaeda before them by joining the governmental side (Al Sahwat).

                                                                                                                         2  OWFI  changes  the  names  in  cases  of  exploited  women.  3  Mujahideen  (pl.),  Mujahid  (s)  means  a  holy  warrior.  Some  of  the  locals  use  this  word  for  men  who  fight  in  resistance  to  the  government’s  sectarian  oppression.  These  men  may  be  from  factions  other  than  ISIS.  

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OWFI’s Hawija Branch: which was set up to serve a generation of disabled children, and where OWFI’s representative Khadija is a key social figure, is currently under ISIS control. Their warriors paid a hostile visit to our center and questioned OWFI’s work putting Khadija under pressure. All the locals and especially the cleric opposed them and gave a good word, that their children can walk now because of our services. Therefore, it seems that OWFI has a branch open and functioning under the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and Khadija is keen to continue the services of physiotherapy for the children

who were born disable due to the US war contamination.

Khadija as recently received women fleeing from Al Alam and Tikrit, into OWFI’s offices. One of the refugee women gave birth inside our office to twin girls.

Khadija asks from OWFI Baghdad to send assistance for humanitarian aid for women fleeing to Hawija. When we asked her how she can receive a wire transfer when her town is no longer part of “Iraq”. She shrugged it off, saying that she can have a walk in the fields and cross over to get it from Kirkuk.

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OWFI wishes to thank the brave women and men who made a difference for the distressed and fleeing population.

Thank you Dalal for organizing the delegate to Karbala and Ain Al Tamer.

Thank you Jannat for insisting that we take the initiative, and for relentless contacts and planning.

Thank you Hassan for your local influence, which open big doors for OWFI.

Thank you Ahlam for lending a hand for the women in need.

Thank you Basma and Shaimaa for your giant steps leaving victimization and becoming women’s defenders…we are so proud of you.

And thank you to OWFI’s men who continue to protect and empower: Omar, Misaab, and Mohamed G.

OWFI Plans to secure shelters and humanitarian aid for the women and children who could not have access to the UN camps, and continue to be vulnerable to the harsh political and militarized environment. We need to raise 70,000$ to support our initiative of sheltering and humanitarian aid for 6 months.

Please let us hear from you in these troubling days.

Yanar Mohammed

OWFI President

29\06\2014