Thousands were forced to flee Iraq when the sectarian violence broke out after the Iraq war began. Mothers and fathers, children and elderly Iraqis find themselves stranded in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. They cannot return to their homes for fear of death.

The following stories shed light on the situations and struggles of the Iraq war refugees.

Ekhlas's Story (Video Documentary)

After her husband received a death threat in the form of a note on their doorstep, Ekhlas and her family knew they had to flee their home. After arriving safely in Jordan, they were repeatedly denied...

Mustafa (Video Documentary)

After losing most of his family in the war, Mustafa is alone and single in Jordan, stuck in a seemingly endless limbo as he waits for asylum. Credits: Filmed by Lee Wang, edited by Yasmin Samir-Shakir...

Ahmed's Story - (Video Documentary)

NOTE: Due to increased threats to Ahmed's family in Iraq, for their safety we can no longer list Ahmed's story on our website. Please help us provide relief to refugees like Ahmed by donating. A young...

Abdulsattar (Video Documentary)

After five years of waiting fruitlessly for asylum, a father wonders what kind of future his children face in a country that doesn't seem to want them. Credits: Filmed by Lee Wang, edited by Yasmin Samir...

Naseer Nouri

Naseer is a member of the Khuzaie tribe, an influential tribe with a tradition of providing assistance to its members. Naseer and his brothers worked with their father, a tribal leader in Baghdad, to...

IRAP meets with Christian refugee community in Jordan

As sectarian violence in Iraq escalated out of control, religious minorities were hit particularly hard. IRAP volunteers met with a community of Assyrian Christian refugees at a church service in Amman...

IRAP works with the University of Jordan Law School

During the winter of 2010, IRAP student leaders from Yale, Stanford, NYU and Columbia law schools traveled to Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to meet with Iraqi refugees, US and UN officials, NGOs, and Members...

Mohammed (Video Documentary)

In late 2007, armed extremists in Fallujah gave Yusra Kadhim and her husband Jamal a choice between divorce and death. A Shi'a Muslim, Yusra had thought little of marrying a Sunni in the years before...

The Ibrahims: A family struggles to survive and to hope (Video Documentary)

UPDATE! With IRAP's help, the Ibrahim's have won their appeal and now live in Portland, OR. Watch our short documentary on their story. Credits: Filmed by Lee Wang, edited by Yasmin Samir-Shakir and...

A lost generation of Iraqi youth

For the approximately one million Iraqis now taking refuge in Syria, life is often a daily battle between hope and despair. These two Iraqi shoeshine boys in Damascus are part of a lost generation of...

Suffering the violent impact of sectarian conflict, a family endures

Mixed Sunni Shi'a families became targets of sectarian violence in Iraq. Many of them fled Iraq after enduring staggering danger and loss. This family managed to find temporary shelter in a Damascus...

Zaman (Video Documentary)

Zaman talks about how she was forced to drop out of college after being targeted for being a member of a Christian minority group. Credits: Filmed by Lee Wang, edited by Yasmin Samir-Shakir and Insa Langhorst...