NEW DELHI: The Capital's "red" corner might be known for its heated political debates, especially during elections, but this weekend the JNU became home for some 40-odd refugees from Iraq.

Lost in transition, these refugees living at Malviya Nagar in South Delhi had come to the campus on Friday to celebrate Id.

Invited by the Foreign Students' Association, they had fled Iraq after the fall of the Saddam Hussein Government for fear of a backlash against Sunnis. Looking for justice with the UNHCR, they have been in India for the past eight months, waiting to pick up the pieces of their broken lives.

"I worked as a translator on their cases for the UNHCR. It is really sad, because they are getting no financial help and are barely managing to make ends meet. The U.N. is refusing to acknowledge that they are refugees and are just delaying their cases. Since it was their first Id in India and they couldn't celebrate themselves, we decided to invite them here," said Khalid Abudall Addel Wahab, president of the Foreign Students' Association.

Coming out for the first time with their families, it was a rare occasion to be "understood". With very few of them managing to get past the language barrier, communication may be tough, but the chances of finding a job are almost impossible.

"Most of us can't speak the language, so when we came to JNU, we felt we were among our people," said Allah Ahmed Mahmood. Desperate to get out of Iraq, they sold their land and all their belongings for a ticket to safety in New Zealand. Spending 4,000 dollars each, Delhi was only to be a few hours in transit for them. But they are still waiting.

"Our Kurdish agent cheated us. We now don't know what to do. He also ran away with the passports. We are just getting along by selling the gold of our wives," rued Mahood.

In a gesture for a campus that feels strongly about the Iraq issue, students who have taken a stand against the American occupation finally got to do more than just protest. While the Association has decided to hold coaching classes for the children, the NSUI has decided to take up the matter seriously.

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