when i was youngeri lived in a citadelbuilt on sacred earthoverlookingancient riversdijlah, foratfragrant and fertilewhere palm trees floatedupon clouds of molten goldone day, the world discovered and foughtover the riches beneath the sandwe were forced to abandon our ancestral hometo seek solace on distantforeign land
by Ahmad Al-Dabagh
‘how we became refugees’ is an allegory for the Iraq war which resulted in the deracination and displacement of millions. It is a personal story of mine, written from the perspective of a parent who has to explain to their child why they left their homeland and how they became refugees. My family and I fled Iraq quite abruptly due to the war and we migrated to Australia in 1994.
