The fatigue shows in his eyes and his jittery legs betray his nerves: Mohamed (32) sits in a Swedish cafe six weeks after fleeing the bombs and death threats that have become a part of everyday life in Iraq, hoping for a chance to start his life again.
Mohamed, a former shopkeeper in a town south of Baghdad, paid $40Â 000 to a smuggler to help him flee Iraq with his wife and two children, aged four and nine, travelling via Turkey to Stockholm.
“I left because of the explosions and because I was threatened, simply because I’m a Shi’ite … We were warned that we would be killed if we didn’t leave. My son was the victim of an attempted kidnapping outside his school,” he said.
He misses his homeland, but at the same time he said he wants to “forget what’s going on in Iraq … I want to build my future here in Sweden, I want to teach my children that their future is here.”
Mohamed is not alone. In November, 1Â 559 Iraqis requested asylum in the Scandinavian country against nearly 300 for the same month in 2005. In September there were 1Â 100, in May 486 and in January 313 — a continuous rise, according to the Swedish Migration Board.
Iraqis come to Sweden because they already have family members there — there are almost 80Â 000 Iraqis in the Nordic country — and because the country is known for its generous refugee policies.
“Here, we have freedom and security, and those are the most important things in the world,” said Ali al-Sohal, a slight 36-year-old with his baseball cap pulled down just above his eyes.
A tailor by training, Ali arrived in Sweden in July and is also waiting for Swedish authorities to rule on his asylum request.
He says he had to leave Iraq because of the security situation and because of a death threat he received in the mail from “the Mujahedin”.
Ali and Mohamed were neighbours in Iraq. Now they sit side by side in a cafe in Tensta, a Stockholm suburb with a heavy immigrant population, both trying to cover up to fend off the Swedish winter chill.
“We’d rather be under the snow than under the bombs,” said Mohamed.
Ali also travelled to Sweden via Turkey, arriving at Stockholm’s airport with a fake passport. His brother was there to meet him, and the next day they went to the Swedish Migration Board to request asylum.
He has been waiting for a ruling for almost five months now, staying in an apartment that he shares with his brother in Rinkeby, not far from Tensta. The waiting is making him physically sick, he said, and he cannot bear the thought of his application being rejected.
Mohamed said he is sad to see the unending violence in Iraq.
“People in Iraq thought the United States would come to help us, but now they see that they are there for another reason: the oil. The whole world knows that,” he said.
Asked whether Iraq would have been better off without the US intervention, he replied: “It’s like being asked to choose between cancer and Aids, both are deadly.”
Meanwhile, Ali Rasoul Jaber was in another state of mind. His residency permit was granted a week ago, and he is all smiles and can breathe easy.
A former Baghdad University professor, the robust 37-year-old is now able to plan for the future with his wife and two children without having to worry about their safety.
In Baghdad, “I was afraid my children would be kidnapped”, he said.
He sold his house, his car and his wife’s jewellery to pay for the trip out of Iraq, which went by way of Syria.
He pointed to a scar on the side of his neck. It’s from Saddam’s security services, he explained.
Now, he receives state allowances and works in an electronics store run by a member of his family in the Tensta shopping mall. He plans to stay in Sweden until the situation in Iraq is safe enough to return.
For the time being, the culture shock is rough.
“It’s too quiet here, life in Iraq is more lively,” he said. — AFP