In the 1930s, PEN was instrumental in finding safe havens for writers and intellectuals fleeing Nazi persecution. Since then, our core mission has included assisting colleagues forced to seek refuge abroad. For the last two years, this has meant working to resettle Iraqi translators, writers, and journalists who have been targeted for death and forced into hiding in Iraq or neighboring countries. PEN has succeeded in helping several of these women and men find refuge in Europe. We have also been working with the U.S. Department of State to review the cases of endangered Iraqi translators, writers, and journalists and pressing the United States government to institute programs to resettle Iraqis persecuted as a result of their efforts to build a safe, free, and open society in Iraq.

February 6, 2008:
New Law Expands Iraqi Refugee Processing

President Bush has signed PEN-supported legislation that requires the United States to expand programs to resettle Iraqi refugees in the U.S., removing some of the major barriers that have left thousands of Iraqi writers, journalists, and translators stranded and vulnerable in Iraq and neighboring countries. >> More

September 26, 2007:
With PEN's Assistance, Refugee Iraqi Writers Now Safe in U.S.

PEN’s efforts to secure safe havens for threatened Iraqi writers and journalists bore fruit this past month, as two PEN colleagues and their families were flown from Syria to the United States for resettlement as refugees .>> More

January 16, 2007:
PEN American Center Presents Statement and Testimonies to Congress

The following three testimonies represent one of the tragic truths of Iraq today: that the Iraqis who invested the most in their country’s future after the United States–led intervention are now among the least likely to have a future in their home country. >> More

Republic of Dreams
The New York Times

In Saddam Hussein’s time, in order to be accepted you had to tell the government that you were a Baathist; you had to tell people in your social environment that you were religious; and in fact you had to be somewhere in the middle. >> More

Fear of Freedom
The New York Times

I tried to escape Iraq for Turkey in 1995. But the Kurds in northern Iraq demanded money I didn’t have, and I decided to go back to Mosul, where I had a 300-meter plot of land given to me by Saddam Hussein. >> More

Lost After Translation
The New York Times

When the Humvees stopped, I shook hands with the marines, and I told them: “You are mostly welcome here. Why don’t you come to my house and drink some cold water?” They offered me a job. >> More

Write a letter to your senator in support of the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act

>> Sample letter

Save Whomever We Can
by George Packer
The New Republic

A few days ago, the brother of my friend Osman was one of seven Sunni workers in a shop in a mixed neighborhood of western Baghdad who were rounded up at gunpoint by Mahdi Army militiamen and taken to the local Shia mosque. There, they were taunted about Saddam Hussein's death sentence and then, one by one, shot in the head. >> More

Conversation: George Packer & Ahmed Ali

PEN Board Member and author George Packer speaks with Iraqi translator Ahmed Ali about the Iraqi refugee crisis. >> More

The following organizations and sites are dedicated to finding increased protection and solutions for Iraqi refugees:

Amnesty International USA

Education for Peace in Iraq Center

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch

InterAction

International Rescue Committee

The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies

Refugee Council USA

Refugees International