Iraqi refugees feel they have good future in Detroit Archdiocese

Published: 2007-09-20

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (CNS) -- Astefan Zrow Yousef was scared for his family. He was scared of the persecution they endured because of their Chaldean Catholic faith. He was scared they would be forced to abandon their faith. And he was scared they would be killed for trying to escape from their life in Iraq. For much the same reason, Issa Toma, his wife, Nano, and their families had already fled from Iraq to the safety of Turkey. Both men had a common goal -- to live with their families in peace -- and now they and their families have been resettled in the Detroit Archdiocese with the help of the archdiocese and other agencies. In June 2004, after his younger children had finished school for the year, Yousef and his family left their home near Baghdad, Iraq, for Turkey. "It was a very bad time," he said through an interpreter at his new home in Sterling Heights. "We left everything behind. We had nothing. We had to flee to save our lives. We decided to flee before we got problems from anybody. It was very hard for us."

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