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Gallery|Human Rights

The forgotten generations: Palestinian refugees in Iraq

Palestinians in Iraq face an uncertain future with little hope of escaping life as stateless refugees.

The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Despite being Palestinian, the family has never visited Palestine. Their dream is to visit their ancestral homeland, even if they cannot live there, explained Mahmoud. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
By Claire Thomas
Published On 5 Feb 20175 Feb 2017
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Erbil, Iraq – Inside Baharka IDP Camp, a government-run refugee camp that provides emergency shelter for over 4,000 internally displaced people, 18 Palestinian families live in a cluster of makeshift homes. Located near the Kurdish city of Erbil, the camp is managed by the Barzani Charity Foundation and the Erbil Refugee Council.

Born and raised in Baghdad, 30-year-old Palestinian Yahia Mahmoud has lived in Baharka camp for over two years. Without permission to work, travel or build a life as a citizen, and with nowhere else to go, Mahmoud and his family, like other Palestinian refugees in Iraq, are trapped in a cycle of isolation, discrimination and continual displacement.

For this family, as is the case for many Palestinians, their identity as stateless refugees is passed down from generation to generation.

Mahmoud’s parents were also born as refugees in Iraq. His grandfather fled Palestine during the exodus of 1948, known as the Nakba, when 700,000 Palestinian Arabs were expelled from their homes.

Mahmoud spent most of his childhood in refugee camps surrounding Baghdad. After being continually displaced throughout his life, most recently fleeing from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) fighters in Ramadi, he now lives in Baharka camp with his wife and two children, together with his brother and other relatives.

In August 2016, Mahmoud’s mother, Hudda Awad, died from cancer at the age of 57. For four months, she had been unable to continue with her chemotherapy in Iraq; her son believes that she was denied the treatment in part because of her ethnicity. “They did not give it to her because it cost a lot of money and also because we are Arabs, not Kurds,” he says.

For Mahmoud and his family, their options are limited. Desperate to provide a brighter and safer future for his children, Mahmoud hopes of someday escaping Iraq in search of the opportunity to build a better life for him and his family as citizens, and not as refugees.

The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
The Palestinian Authority passport does little to help Mahmoud and his family to achieve their goal of leaving Iraq and visiting their ancestral homeland. As refugees, the travel document does not permit them to leave Iraq without a visa, nor does it allow them to enter the occupied Palestinian territories. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
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The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Like her father, 3-year-old Gena was born a refugee in Iraq. Raising their children in a refugee camp presents many concerns for Mahmoud and his wife Sana. 'I don't want anything except for my children to grow up in a healthy environment with a good education and to have a beautiful life,' said Mahmoud. 'I don't want them to see the things I've seen or to live the way I've lived. I want them to have a good life.' [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Mahmoud holds a certificate for a capacity building training course he completed in December 2015. After studying law in Ramadi, Mahmoud worked as a junior mobiliser with UNICEF for two years. When the region fell under ISIL control, Mahmoud and his family fled to Iraqi Kurdistan for safety. 'I can’t work for UNICEF now because I don't have permission to go to the camps where they are,' he explains. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Facilities in the camp are rudimentary with limited access to water and power. 'The situation is a lot worse now,' says Mahmoud. 'Water comes maximum one or two hours per day and for one week there has been no government supply of electricity.' Due to the shortage of power, those who can afford it pay for private electricity, which, according to Mahmoud, costs approximately 45,000 Iraqi dinars (roughly $40) a month. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Mahmoud and his family at home, inside the camp, with the Palestinian flag on the wall. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Within the limited space they are allocated inside the camp, the family has a small garden where they grow edible plants, such as mint and other herbs. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
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The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Mahmoud has lived in Baharka camp in Iraqi Kurdistan for over two years. 'Here we can't live, there's no future,' he says. 'My future is already gone, but my children don't have any future here. We need to go to any country, just not Iraq; somewhere where we can be free without prejudice.' [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Children play table football in Baharka camp. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
The family sits together in their cramped home in Baharka camp. Mahmoud’s brother used to have a job outside the camp, but without having the required permission to work in Iraq, he was sent back to the camp after being stopped by police at a checkpoint. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Mohammad, 9, shows off his school work. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Children play inside Baharka camp at sunset. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Mahmoud holds out his phone with the translated message: 'We are here, we have no rights'. Palestinian refugees in Iraq are denied the opportunity to be equal citizens of the country in which they were born. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Mahmoud's wife, Sana, holds her daughter, Gena, outside their home in Baharka camp. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]
The forgotten generations of Palestinians / Please Do Not Use
Facilities inside the camp are limited so children climb over the boundary fence in order to play football in an open space outside the confines of the camp. [Claire Thomas/ Al Jazeera]


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