Nigel Farage campaigning before the European referendum.
I came to Britain from Iraq 36 years ago. I was running away for my life, so it didn’t really matter which country I go to, most important for me then was to leave Iraq before I meet the same fate as many of my relatives, friends and colleagues who were murdered by the regime. I remember I visited almost every foreign embassy in Baghdad to get a visa, including the embassy of the Republic of Afghanistan which was at war with itself then, perhaps worse than it is now, but I knew there was less chance of me getting killed there. But if I stayed in Iraq, I would either be killed by the regime for being critical of the ‘leader necessity,’ his Excellency the President of the Republic of Iraq, Secretary General of the Ba’ath Party, Chairman of the Revolution Command Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Field Marshal Saddam Hussein, or get killed in the war with Iran which had just started. I needed to get away from danger, and get away I did.
The British embassy in Baghdad was welcoming all those who had money and wanted to study at their expense. I applied for a place at a British university and got accepted. I had to prove to the British and Iraqi authorities that I had enough money to pay for my studies and I provided the evidence, and within months of the beginning of this process, I managed to leave Iraq and come to London. It was a huge relief and I was, still am, and will always be, grateful to the British for allowing me into their beautiful country.
