I became a refugee in August 04, 2014 after I and my family escaped when ISIS attacked Mosul. It was a difficult, but necessary decision. It wasn’t our choice to be refugees. It was forced on us by circumstances out of our control. I lost my business, my dreams and everything owned. Also I missed all my friends and relatives.
When you’re a refugee, you may be lonely, isolated, and traumatized. It’s important that people are patient, understanding and compassionate. Everything takes time. In the first days I felt upset and strange, but local people and organizations around us helped guide and support us.
It has come full circle. Therefore, I decided to work and give my support to those who help others, who helped me and my family. It has given me the opportunity to share my story and give back. I started with my community in Saint Paul Chaldean Catholic Church by sponsoring many families; (around 120,000 people) that escaped from Mosul and all the cities of Nineveh Plain to the north of Iraq in Kurdistan Regional, Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon.
Maybe today there are some in attendance who want to ask me some questions, but today all we need is answers to the questions following:
- Why the numbers of the refugees are increasing year by year?
- Why Nabeel succeeded to be in Canada while thousands of his relatives and friends still suffering for five years there in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey?
- Why we write but nobody read?
- Why we speak but nobody listen?
- Why we attend these conferences but no any effective actions for refugees’ issue?
- Why the superpowers in the Security Council are not looking for the solutions for refugee issues in the world?
- Why the superpowers in the Security Council allow wars and crises of poverty, violence, persecution and terrorism in the world?
All these questions are facing us today in order to reach solutions and help as many refugees as possible, especially the children who are deprived the education and the health care that the rest children who live a normal life in the world have.
When I was in Iraq, I have many dreams and all of them were achieved except one I couldn’t reach it, which is to be a minister… (Did you know why I want to be minister?), because I want to serve my indigenous people of Mesopotamia (Babylon & Nineveh). We are Chaldean, Assyrian, Syriac and Armenian, therefore I want to protect our rights, language, culture, because we have suffered too much for marginalization, intimidation and murder. For example, in 2003 we are 1.5 million Christian in Iraq and now we are only 300,000.
I am not a politician and I do not want to go into politics, but I want to show my people’s issues to all international forums. For this reason I’m holding in my hands two things: love and hope. Therefore I tried to achieve my dreams and start my new life here in Canada.
When I established my new business, at the same time I studied and got a diploma certificate in Accounting & Payroll Administration, in order to build my new life in Canada, and continue to serve my community and newcomers’ families.