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Tell Me Your Story – Interview with Mueen, 69 year old man
Interview conducted by Azher Adnan
Mueen: I arrived in Egypt in December of 2006, after getting a visa with the help of a friend living in Cairo. I left Iraq when I thought that it was impossible to stay there more.
My sad story started during the last war when a projectile damaged my home in Baghdad. This caused a financial and psychological effect, and my wife died because she was afraid of the war – she could not sustain the events and voices of bombings and explosions. I lost my wife and my home.
I left home and lived in shelter until the war stopped. When the war stopped, we went back to our home to do some renovations. Our problems became bigger and bigger when my daughter was threatened by an unknown group. She worked in an insurance company as a translator. There was an assassination attempt against my older son who worked in the Nasser Company for mechanical industry, and the kidnap and murder of my daughter's friend who was an engineer in the Communication Ministry. This is why I left Iraq.
When I arrived in Egypt, I went to the UNHCR and got the Yellow Card, and medical and financial support from the Caritas organization because I suffer from diabetes from ten years ago. Now I live in 6 October City with my three daughters and nephew, without friends or relatives and suffering from home sickness, exile, and disappointment.
Azher: This much is what Mr. Mueen told me. I heard from his family that he is madly in love with plants and Arabic coffee and now he has some plants, and tools for preparing coffee to kill free time. But this cannot redeem what he left in his country. During our interview, he cried when he talked about his memories of Iraq.
