Iraq’s best, brightest flee from violence

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Rasha Tamimi sits comfortably in the luxurious lobby of the Millennium Hotel in Sharjah, part of a line of skyscrapers that stretches the length of the United Arab Emirates — a world away from the bloodshed of her old Iraqi neighborhood.

Mrs. Tamimi, a doctor, is one of thousands of Iraqi professionals who have fled their country to escape the daily violence rocking Baghdad.

“I feel guilty sometimes, because I live a nice life, I have a nice job, I can go to fancy restaurants, while Iraqis are living a miserable life,” said Mrs. Tamimi, the mother of two toddlers.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) estimates that more than 40 percent of Iraq’s professional class has left the country since late 2003, and it anticipates that more will follow. The Iraqi government has issued more than 2 million passports in the past 10 months.

Of those who have left, the committee says, 350,000 are in Syria, 450,000 are in Jordan, and 90,000 are spread around the rest of the world.

“Clearly, this has a serious impact,” said Lavinia Limon, president of USCRI, a nonprofit, private organization that has been tracking refugee movements for 45 years. “No country can lose 40 percent of its professionals and not have a lasting negative impact on their economic and social progress.”

Miss Limon said much of the violence in Iraq is based on the victims’ political affiliations or religious beliefs, or their families’ ability to pay a ransom. Doctors, journalists, lawyers, engineers, artists and teachers are being attacked by an insurgency that wants to destabilize the society and by religious extremists who disapprove of their lifestyles.

“The criminals are a big part of this, as well,” Miss Limon said. “They have carte blanche for kidnapping and extortion, and a lot of people feel there is no protection. People with any means, or those with a family member in Europe or the United States, can be targeted for extortion. So, some people are leaving because things are so lawless.”

The brain drain is making life even more difficult for Iraqis. Adel al-Janabee, 24, said he could not finish his master’s degree in computer science at Baghdad University because five of his seven professors have left the country.

“I used to have 11 classes a week; now I have three,” he said. “Actually, I am thinking about quitting my studies because it is just a waste of time.”

Those in need of medical care are also suffering. Retired school principal Amer Hassan used to visit Iraq’s best medical specialist for disc and nerve damage in his spine until about six months ago, when the doctor left for Amman, Jordan.

“I have nobody to replace him, because even the other good doctors have left the country, and my situation is getting worse,” Mr. Hassan said.

Every day, Mrs. Tamimi calls her parents in Baghdad, afraid that something may have happened to them. Her father, a former military officer, is high on the hit list of those trying to eliminate all remnants of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

“Doctors, engineers, all educated people are trying to leave, and anyone who has the chance to leave will leave,” said Mrs. Tamimi, who is working as a general practitioner in a private hospital in Dubai.

“The impact is that Iraq is losing all its intellectual people, that is for sure,” Mrs. Tamimi said. “If they stay there in Baghdad, they will be killed, either for money or for no reason, or they will be kidnapped. One time they go after doctors; another time they go after other groups.”

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