Kurdish refugees in Nashville still struggle with the trauma experienced in their homeland. While some Kurds deal with health issues from physical wounds, many are influenced by the emotional scarring of surviving genocide.
Included in the documentary below, produced by Nashville's WNPT in 2009, are two stories featuring survivors of chemical attacks waged by Saddam Hussein’s regime. One of those stories is about my son-in-law Meran Abdullah, who was living with his family in the Kurdish village of Ekmole, when the chemical attack began...
At this very moment, Meran and my daughter Eva are in Iraqi Kurdistan visiting. During their visit, Meran is doing what is necessary to submit a claim to a genocide victim survivors fund, for compensation. Nothing will replace what was lost, but it is felt by many that this it is only just to make this offer to the victims, to help them get on with their lives and help their families. It has taken a long time to get to this point, but the Kurdish people have worked hard to remake their communities. I am very proud of my son-in-law and his extended family. They are the best of America, they are who America has always been. People seeking a better life, and working hard to accomplish it.