Number of Iraqi refugees admitted to U.S. up sharply
California is the top state for resettlement. Among those fleeing the violence is a prosperous family that had to leave many possessions behind and is struggling to make a new life in Los Angeles.
For Ramiz Kamil, it was the car bomb that finally pushed him into his life's most momentous decision: leaving his beloved Iraqi homeland for a new and uncertain life as a refugee in Southern California.
He and his family had endured growing travails since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. While Hussein's overthrow and execution brought newfound freedom to the nation's majority Muslims, their rise to power has resulted in growing persecution of Iraqi Christians like him, he said in a recent interview.
His wife shuttered her flower shop after an official from a Shia Muslim political party told her she could no longer sell Christmas trees or ornaments as she had every year under Hussein. The official also told her to buy a Koran and wear traditional Muslim clothing, including the head covering, Kamil said.
One of Kamil's Muslim neighbors, who had greeted him with a hug every morning and shared coffee and domino games with him many evenings, began to chastise him for allowing his wife to work. "It's not allowed in the Muslim tradition," Kamil said the neighbor told him.
The family had stopped attending Mass in 2005, after car bombs exploded simultaneously at six churches throughout Iraq, he said.
But the ultimate catalyst for his decision to flee was a 2006 car bomb that exploded near Kamil's own vehicle and sent him to the hospital with head injuries. "I thought, 'Everything here is finished. I can't even drive my own car safely anymore,' " said Kamil, 45.
Two weeks after the car bomb explosion, Kamil fled to Jordan with his family: wife Helen Gorgees, 40; daughter Nadia, 16; and son Rafid, 15. There they stayed until Oct. 17, when they were allowed into the United States as refugees and resettled near relatives in Panorama City.
The Kamil family's resettlement reflects a major increase this year in the number of Iraqi refugees admitted to the United States. After months of processing delays -- and widespread complaints by refugee advocates -- the U.S. government dramatically increased the number of Iraqi refugee admissions to more than 13,800 in the last fiscal year compared with 1,600 the previous year. This year's current target is 17,000.
