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It's my uncle and his family. I have been calling for months, but no phone service. I wrote a letter over two months ago basically saying if you're alive please call. They went to a friend's house who have a satellite phone and called from there to say they're ok.
Some background: my father filed their immigration papers and received approval for their visas back in the early 70s. At that time, and all these years, my uncle's response was always, "If the road from Baghdad to America were paved with gold, I will not leave my country." Well they're kicking themselves now. The situation is unbearable. There is sporadic electricity, and with the heat rising to 100+ with no air conditioning, they're going bonkers. Too afraid to leave the house because of all the chaos. No jobs as most are "contracted out." One of the cousins went to Jordan to see if they could find a foreign embassy that would grant them a visa, but no luck. One of the other cousins is married to an Armenian man. They're hoping to go to Armenia (where he can get easy citizenship) and then maybe leave from there.
All I could do was listen. I felt so helpless.
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