Delhi has become the latest destination for a large number of Iraqis who have managed to escape the dreaded Islamic State (IS) terrorists in their home country.
A large section of these Iraqis are applying to the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Delhi, seeking ‘refugee’ status.
According to an estimate, about
20,000 Iraqis have arrived in India since June 2014 and most of them have claimed that they managed to escape the monstrosity of the Islamic State.
Delhi is the only other Indian city, besides Chennai, where the UNHCR has an office. These Iraqis are mostly coming from IS-occupied Mosul, Saladin, Tikrit and Kirkuk.
Several others have come from cities which are still controlled by the Iraqi government, but the terror of IS runs deep.
Besides these people who are coming to Delhi, several Iraqi students at various universities of Delhi-NCR are also stuck in India. Many of them have applied to the UNHCR, even as they are making arrangements to bring over their families from Iraq.
UNHCR Chief of Mission Dominik Bartsch said: “Earlier, about one or two Iraqis would come to us in a month, seeking ‘
refugee’ status. Now the trickle has turned into a steady stream of 20 to 30 and all of them are saying that they have been running away from the Islamic State.”
Ahmed Yaseen Muhi, 31, a resident of Noida, runs a website for Iraqis in Delhi. He said: “Till about October 2014, there were only seven members on the website, including myself. The queries ranged from tourist and medical facilities to universities in Delhi. Since then the membership has shot up to 3,910 and the queries now only relate to rented accommodations in the city and the location of the UNHCR office. ”
Ahmed, a PhD scholar from JNU, barely saved his life from the militants himself when he fled Baghdad in March 2014.
“I had gone back after I finished my studies here, but the militants came knocking at my door asking if I am a Shia or a Sunni. I had to run away with my wife and my child, and come back to India.”
He is now working as a translator at a private hospital in the city.
Frightened Iraqis flock to Delhi to escape IS misery | Daily Mail Online