VZCZCXRO7778
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0937/01 0751502
ZNY EEEEE ZZH
O 161502Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0229
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS E F T O SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000937
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR: PRM/A; DHS FOR BICS HEADQUARTER; CAIRO FOR
REFCOORD; AMMAN FOR REFCOORD AND CONSULAR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2017
TAGS: IZ PHUM PREF
SUBJECT: US REFUGEE ADMISSIONS PROGRAM REFERRAL FOR LOCALLY
EMPLOYED STAFF EVEREST AL-BARAZANCHI KAREEM MOHAMMAD AMIN
REF: STATE 16383
1. Embassy Baghdad would like to refer the following locally
employed staff to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)
2. (SBU)
Principal applicant (PA):
Name: Everest Albarazanchi (A.k.A. Everest Kareem Mohammad
Amin)
DOB: November 27, 1974 (Iraqi Passport states in error
November 17)
POB: Basra
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Household Members
Name: Afrodite Kareem Mohammad Amin
DOB: July 24, 1966
POB: Baghdad
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Relationship: Sister
Name: Tara Kareem Mohammad Amin
DOB: Aug 12 1972
POB: Baghdad
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Relationship: Sister
Name: Schwan Kareen Mohammad Amin
DOB: July 27, 1968
POB: Baghdad
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married (Separated)
Relationship: Brother
Name: Kareem Mohammad Amin Ahmed
DOB: July 1, 1933
POB: Sulaymaniyah
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Relationship: Father
Name: Nasreen Zainal-Deen Najim al Deen Al-Naqshabandi
DOB: July 1, 1936
POB Sulaymaniyah
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Relationship: Mother
Name: Thuraya Ahmed Abdullah Abdul Rahman
DOB: July 1, 1952
POB: Sulaymaniyah
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Relationship: Cousin, caregiver
3. (SBU) Description of persecution claim, as reported by
Everest and her American Supervisor: Everest has worked as a
visa assistant in the Consular Section since June 2005, where
she has met Iraqi officials and members of the Iraqi public
everyday. Prior to that she worked for Kellog Brown and Root
inside the IZ from 2003. Although she has never lived in
Kurdistan she is a Sunni Kurd living in a mixed neighborhood
in Baghdad. Her household includes her father, mother, two
sisters (who both work in the IZ), and a 48 year old woman
she refers to as her cousin. Her 38 year old brother works
for the Iraq Minitry of Defense. Her mother, older middle
sister and brother all went to Jordan in late 2006 after a
neighbor recognized the brother as working at the Ministry of
Defense and two of the brothers coworkers were shot and
killed. After Everest's coworker was injured in a
car-bombing, she temporarily moved in with her uncle in the
IZ but cannot stay there permanently. She, her father,
sister and cousin will all depart permanently for Jordan on
March 19 where they will meet with the UNHCR on March 22.
The entire family depends on the income that the daughters
receive. In Jordan, they will depend on the income of the
middle daughter who is working for her Iraqi company by
email.
4. (SBU) Everest has been one of the best employees of the
Consular Section. She now fears for her own life and her
family's life is anyone learns that she works for the U.S.
BAGHDAD 00000937 002 OF 002
Embassy. After Iraqis have seen her face at the Consular
window for the past two years, she has to hide from the
public in Baghdad for fear that someone will recognize her.
Her fears were compounded when a neighbor recognized her
brother from the Minstry of Defense and her sister as working
at the MNF's Project Contracting Office. She has brought
everything she has related to her job into the office, for
fear that someone might search their house and discover the
connection. She is not sure what the price is now, but in
recent months the JAM in her neighborhood was offering USD
5,000 to anyone who would tell them the identity of any U.S.
Embassy worker.
5. (SBU) She has never lived in Kurdistan but many of her
family members were killed there by poison gas under Saddam.
They do still have relatives there but Everest believes that
there is still a strong danger of war and insurgency in
Kurdistan. She is afraid that Kurdistan will try to break
off from the rest of Iraq. She said that she has known war
all her life and doesn't want to go anywhere, including
Syria, where she will have to live in war again.
6. (SBU) Everest's case was brought before the Embassy
Refugee Committee on March 15 an the committee found her case
to be credible and to warrant referral to the USRAP. Class
namechecks have been conducted on Everest and her household
members. The female members of the family has no close hits.
The two males have common names (Mohammad Ahmed and Karim
Mohammad) and will have to be cleared in Washington.
7. (SBU) Applicant should not be requiring financial support
while the case is being processed.
SPECKHARD