Hanan Hameed moved to Charlottesville, Virginia in 2007 from Baghdad, Iraq as a refugee. She recalls things initially being relatively calm when US soldiers first arrived in Baghdad, though the situation deteriorated as the US presence was declared an invasion. Due to rising violence, Hameed had to leave school and was eventually sent to Syria with her sister while her mother applied for refugee status. After five months, they received approval to move to Charlottesville, where they were assisted by the International Rescue Committee. Hameed worked hard to learn English and continue her education, and now studies foreign affairs at the University of Virginia with aspirations of joining the foreign service to help refugees and promote social justice

1. Elsie Gaw
December 4, 2014
Profile Article
Fourth year University of Virginia student, Hanan Hameed, moved to
Charlottesville when she was 14 years old in 2007 as a refugee from Baghdad. She
studies foreign affairs and Spanish literature at UVA and spent this fall semester on
Semester at Sea.
Hameed remembers that when US military presence first began in Baghdad,
things were not that bad.
“The first time I remember when US soldiers came into my neighborhood
everyone came out to see. They were like aliens because of their gear, and weapons and
night vision. A few days later, if there was a tank at the end of your street, you could stop
and chat with the soldiers and that was completely normal. People could even invite them
into their homes for tea,” she said.
However, Hameed said that when the US’s actions were declared an invasion, not
a liberation, conversations soldiers were strongly discouraged. If people did not stop, they
would be threatened, sometimes in violent ways like a grenade being thrown at their
house to knock out a wall. Hameed’s own mother was an interpreter working for the US
and she recalls warnings coming to her house about threats. Some interpreters working
for the US government ended up being killed.
She also described how one of her extended family members was kidnapped: “We
all contributed to give the money to get him back. There was a lot of negotiating to bring
it down to a reasonable amount. Many times when people are kidnapped and ask for
ransom, they are still killed and never given back, so this was a very stressful time for my
family.”
In December 2007, Hameed left school in her ninth grade. She describes how
each day was very monotonous because she could not leave her home, and that all she
could do was eat, sleep, and watch television.
“Every day I would go up to the roof and look at the sky but then I could not do
that anymore because random people gained access to weapons and would shoot and
bullets could land on the roof,” she said.
At this point, her mother sent Hameed and her seventeen-year-old sister to Syria
to live with a friend of a friend. Soon after, Hameed’s mother quit her job and also moved
to Syria where they began to apply for refugee status.
This process included multiple interviews to ensure that each member of the
family tells the same story each time. “Each time you have to tell the same story to make
sure you aren’t lying about the seriousness of the situation,” she said. After five months,
they received approval and a travel date to Charlottesville, VA. Hameed said that their
process was relatively quick because of her mother’s past job with the US government
and a letter of referral she had from a government official. Some families wait years for
this approval.
Once in Charlottesville, the Hameeds were received by the International Rescue
Committee. The IRC organizes housing for refugees, which is paid for the first four
months. Hameed describes how her family was fortunate that her mother spoke English,
so finding a job was less challenging.

2. However, she says how many refugees are put into a position where they are
“starting from 0 with culture, language, income, and education.” It is difficult for those
without a background in English to get a job that is safe and financially stable.
“Someone would say, ‘is it better that they are living this life than back in Iraq
where they already worried if they will live through the day or die or go through the
financial hardship?’ I do not know the answer. My grandparents are still in Iraq and do
not want to leave because it takes many years to adapt. I don’t have an answer to that but
I think my personal preference is I would want to live somewhere safe rather than
somewhere dangerous, and to be able to walk out in the street without being told to cover
up or we will kill you,” she said.
Hameed restarted her ninth grade at Charlottesville High School and only had
some English background from what she had learned in school. She described how
different education is in Iraq, where school is mostly based in memorization of passages.
However, Hameed worked very hard in high school, took Advanced Placement classes,
and ended up going to college at UVA. She plans to use her degree in foreign affairs in
the future.
“I want to join the foreign service I think. I am also interested in NGO’s. I want to
do something with refugees, definitely. I am interested in social justice and environment.
Or I could do politics. I really am interested in so many things. I am very interested in the
refugee crisis in Syria and Iraq,” she said.
Hameed also says how this semester influenced her desire to work in the Foreign
Service. She noticed many students being disrespectful in foreign countries, and caring
more about moving from bar to bar than learning about different cultures.
“Coming from Iraq, I can see why we are making enemies instead of friends. We
are wasteful, we are loud. This is why I want to go into the foreign service: to change this
image of the US…I don’t want to go back and just be a student- I need to apply this new
knowledge,” she said.
Overall, Hameed enjoyed her Semester at Sea and was impacted positively. “I am
so thankful, you have no idea, I think about it and I just smile and I dance because I am
so grateful for this program. I am interested in traveling even more. It changed my life
because I realized I don’t like to be in one place. I like to be free to move. I am so
fortunate to have an American passport,” she said.