EU-funded ICMC keeps helping Iraqi refugees in Syria as aid may dwindle

More than 2 million Iraqis fled their violent, divided homeland for fear of persecution after the 2003 Iraq war. The almost 65,000 registered Iraqi refugees in Syria now find themselves trapped in a new conflict. Those who, like Hayfa, cannot go back home, have a daunting choice between running away yet again and enduring life in war-torn Syria.

While the international community focuses its attention on relieving the humanitarian emergency triggered by the influx of more than 1 million Syrian refugees into neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) has not forgotten the Iraqis who stayed behind in Syria.Read more

ICMC gives a Syrian refugee in Jordan some breathing space in a long wait away from home

(Al-Mafraq, Jordan) 25 February 2013 -- Leila fled to Jordan with her two young children nearly a year ago, as she feared that they would not live to see another day if they stayed in Syria.

When other ICMC caseworkers and I entered her bare apartment in Al-Mafraq, it was obvious that Leila’s two children shared her resilience. They were quick to scurry around, crawling over laps and digging into their packets of crisps, trying to conceal the excitement that our visit had triggered.Read more

"I am a refugee: I don’t think about my future"

The civil war in Syria has claimed more than 70,000 lives and forced many more to flee their home country. They have left their past behind and do not yet see what future lies ahead for them.Read more

Restoring hope to flood affected families

ICMC Flood Response in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Bile Haider is a sixty year old resident of Charsadda, Khyber, Pakistan. Before the floods, Bile was the breadwinner for his wife, 3 sons, 6 daughters, and his widow mother.Read more

Among the Asylum Seekers

Refugees arrive at our offices early. Often a line starts forming by 5:30 a.m. There are Sudanese men with the parallel scars of manhood etched on their foreheads, Ethiopian women draped in white scarves, and Somalis floating by in their red and black hijabs trailing the scent of eucalyptus in their wake. They tote their food for the day in plastic containers and thermoses, knowing the wait may be long. Here is the story.Read more

Achieving a sustainable source of income

Faruq Hafeez* shares his story about how a microcredit grant received through ICMC Pakistan and the Sarhad Rural Support Programme changed his life and the well being of his family.Read more

Most significant change: Search for light

Jaffar Haseeb Ahsan* tells of how he has found new hope in life after his wife was selected to learn how to start and run a business through ICMC Pakistan and the Sarhad Rural Support Programme.Read more

Search for destination

Saeed Ghazali* shares his story of 'most significant change', recalling how a cash grant from ICMC Pakistan and the Sarhad Rural Support Programme for establishing his own micro enterprise has improved his standard of living and enabled him to feel happy with his life.Read more

Undefeated woman

Nahid Hafeez* shares her story of how life has changed for her and her family since receiving cash grant support from ICMC Pakistan and the Sarhad Rural Support Programme to open a small general store in her home village.Read more

Most significant change: New hope

Bibi Amir Elahi* tells of how she has found new hope in life after she received micro enterprise training from ICMC Pakistan and the Sarhad Rural Support Programme and was able to start a small livestock business.Read more

Three months in Dadaab

A look into deployee Karen Read's experience working as a Best Interests Determination (BID) specialist in Dadaab, Kenya from January to April 2009.Read more

A Family Resemblance

A refugee story by ICMC-UNHCR deployee, Emad, about the incredible interview that marked his deployment in Beirut, Lebanon.Read more

Life after Iraq: Separate lives

Hakim* and his sister are Iraqi refugees, having fled their country when violence touched their lives. While both are refugees, he and his family now live in Madison Heights, USA, while she and her family are in Damascus, Syria, awaiting resettlement. Here is his story.Read more

Securing a future for separated children and unaccompanied minors

ICMC Deployee, Kimberly Haynes, describes her experience working with refugee children in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.Read more

Beyond numbers and quotas: Agony between the lines

ICMC deployee, Viveka Bergh, reflects on the stories of so many Iraqi refugees hoping for resettlement, and finds inspiration in seeing the most vulnerable cases find acceptance in countries such as Sweden.Read more

Shattered lives, but hope for the future

Marisa Gomez, shares her experience as an ICMC Deployee with UNHCR in Tanzania, where she has witnessed the importance of resettlement as a protection tool for refugees who have suffered untold violence and trauma.Read more

When resettlement is the only alternative

ICMC deployee, Tycho Walaardt, shares his experience working with Somali and Sudanese refugees in camps in Eritrea.Read more

An interview with Katrien Ringelé, ICMC European Resettlement Network Coordinator

There is still little knowledge in Europe on how resettlement of refugees works in practice. ICMC European Resettlement Network Coordinator, Katrien Ringelé, talks about her experience with refugee resettlement and its importance for European countries.Read more

Experiencing Gabon through the eyes of refugees

ICMC deployee Sari Sirva reflects on the situation of refugee Women-At-Risk who have found temporary refugee in Gabon, but remain in dire need of more permanent protection.Read more