Kamal's story

Kamal, Base and their 3 children.

Prior to arriving in Australia, my family endured hardship and terror from being displaced from our home in Shingal, Iraq.

I remember being woken by my father. He told me that ISIS militants had started attacking towns and it was time to stand our ground and fight back. We couldn’t let them take everything we had and all that we’d built for our lives.

Later that day, I peered out the window to see streams of army trucks and troops fleeing from ISIS. All hopes of resisting the invasion drove away in those vehicles, along with all my peace and sense of security.

I knew that ISIS would show no mercy and that my wife and children weren’t safe.

My wife was at risk of being abducted and suffering terrible abuse.

We got our extended family together to frantically plan our escape, because staying and fighting just wasn’t an option.

With only a few basic supplies, we knew that going to the mountains was not the right choice.

That’s when terror set in.

We heard that ISIS had arrived already and we’re killing people at gunpoint.

We decided to flee to the Kurdistan region. More than 20 family members were crammed into the ute, overflowing the back of the tray. We held on for dear life as the car sped away.

With so many cars on the road due to the number of people fleeing at the same time, a trip that would normally take three hours took twelve.

That was the last time I saw my beloved hometown.

With fears of ISIS chasing us, we paid money to be smuggled across the border into Turkey. Even this was a risk, because we had heard stories of people dying attempting to cross the border.

We had to do all of this while carrying a 3 year-old which was hard.

We lived in refugee accommodation in Turkey for 6 months and felt relieved and safer than we were in Iraq.

I went back to Kurdistan to earn some money to support my family. I worked for a construction company for 2 years. Then I went back to Turkey where we lived in a refugee camp for another 2 years.

It wasn’t easy staying in the camp. Sometimes, I’d stay up most of the night keeping the wood heater going to keep my family warm through the cold while it was snowing.

Then the news came…
I can remember exactly what I was doing. I was playing "PUBG MOBILE" when I got a call from the Australian Embassy on another phone.

When I saw it was from the Embassy, I dropped the phone I was playing on to take the call. They asked me to come in for an interview.

I was dancing and jumping for joy. The neighbours came running to celebrate with us.

We were finally on our way to Australia.

When I arrived in Australia, I could only speak a little English and it was challenging to know how to live and find friends.

A month or so after arriving, my family and I attended a welcome picnic with You Belong. It was amazing. At the picnic we saw other Yezidi families, including some we knew from Turkey.

We couldn't believe Australians smiled and looked happy when they met us.
We weren't used to that.

I wanted to improve my English, so I went to the You Belong English classes. I met my friend and my new Aussie brother Warren.

He helps me with everything now. I’m so grateful to Warren and You Belong and how welcomed we have felt in Australia. They have helped so many people.

Kamal, former refugee from Iraq.

If you can make a donation to You Belong I know it will go to great use to help refugee families like mine.