20070719 AP: Denmark Pulls Out Dozens of Iraqi Aides

Denmark Pulls Out Dozens of Iraqi Aides

July 21, 2007 – A colleague who spent a tour of duty in Iraq has expressed, on a number of occasions, concern over the health safety and welfare of the Iraqi translators with whom he worked.

When I get a chance I’ll go over one of his e-mails about the matter and post it on “Soundtrack.”

Denmark Pulls Out Dozens of Iraqi Aides

Thu Jul 19, 2007

Karl Ritter, AP Writer

KARUP — Before the withdrawal of its 480 combat troops from Iraq next month, Denmark has pulled out scores of Iraqi aides and their families.

The last of three Danish military flights carrying a total of 200 Iraqis left Friday, the government said. The flights were kept secret because of fears that militants would try to attack the planes.

The aides, many of them translators, worked with the Danes in Basra, a risky job that has turned them into traitors in the eyes of militants fighting the U.S.-led coalition. The government decided in June to offer the aides a chance to seek asylum.

The United States and Britain have been reluctant to accept large numbers of Iraqi asylum-seekers — including those who worked for their military or civilian operations. The Danish move came only after months of heated debate.

[…]

Sweden, which isn't even part of the coalition, has taken in more Iraqi refugees than any other Western country has — though it is now tightening its asylum rules.

The United States has admitted fewer than 800 Iraqis since the start of the war but has promised to take in nearly 7,000 more starting later this year.

"We're working aggressively to try to process Iraqi refugees who have been classified as refugees by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said this month. "While we want to meet our humanitarian obligations here, we also want to make sure we do so in such a way that our borders and the American people are protected."

Particularly at risk are the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have worked for — or are currently employed by — U.S.-led coalition members. Their work has involved everything from translating to driving. Many of their colleagues have died in attacks directed at coalition forces; others have been abducted and killed outside of work.

"These people are particularly targeted, and of course people know who they are," said Bjarte Vandvik, secretary-general of the European Council of Refugees and Exiles.

[…]

In May, a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives proposed that over the next four years the U.S. accept up to 60,000 Iraqis who worked for at least a year with the U.S. or U.N., affiliated contractors or subcontractors or American-based non-governmental organizations. The Senate is considering similar legislation.

Translators may get special attention. In June, the U.S. government launched a resettlement program to process Iraqis living in Jordan who have worked as translators for the U.S. government or military or who worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority. The program provides a way to apply for refugee status separate from the UNHCR referral process and will be run by the International Organization for Migration.

[…]

Read the entire article here: Denmark Pulls Out Dozens of Iraqi Aides

Iraq War Iraqi translators and interpreters, D9000