Stories from Iraq

Every morning, Dr. Amir drives the short distance from his home in Domiz town to the local primary health care clinic. A Syrian refugee and gynaecologist, he has lived in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) since fleeing his home in Syria in 2013. His days are fully...

For Aya, Nihad, and Taha, education is more than a personal endeavour – it’s a way to give back to their communities. As refugees in Iraq, they have all faced significant challenges to get to where they are today, but with the support of the DAFI Tertiary Scholarship...

In his music classroom, Nidal sits with his fingers delicately plucking the strings of a tamboura as he teaches a group of children to sing. The small room, filled with the sounds of melody and laughter, has become a sanctuary—a place of healing and hope, not just for...

Amid the echoing chatter of students in the busy classrooms of a public school in Sulaymaniyah, one voice stands out – that of 41-year-old Syrian refugee teacher Dalia Mahmoud. Confidently teaching the local Kurdish curriculum, Dalia brings refugee and local...

For years, Azhar set off to work each morning with a knot of worry tightening in his chest. As a day labourer in the construction sector, he faced constant uncertainty—not just about securing work and a wage for the day, but about the safety and well-being of his...

Every day, Narmine wakes up with a purpose to improve someone else’s day. As a Syrian refugee, she is no stranger to mental health challenges, having witnessed firsthand how issues like anxiety, depression, and anger are all too common among displaced communities. It...

Kawe Haji, 42, moves around the makeshift tent she calls home in the Khanke camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Dohuk in Northern Iraq. A decade ago, she and her family fled Sinjar in Iraq’s Nineveh Governorate, where the Yazidi population suffered...

While students at the Kobane school in Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I), enjoy their summer holidays, classrooms have opened their doors to other types of learners: refugee teachers and parents. Throughout the summer, Maqboola has been one of about...

When Zaem fled violence and conflict in his hometown of Al-Hassakah in northeast Syria in 2019, he did not imagine that, a few years later, he would find peace – and a livelihood opportunity – in raising bees and harvesting honey in Iraq.  “I used to trade wheat,...