newspaper article 2
TRANSCRIPT
Th
e H
ard
Ro
adA
look
into
the
life
of p
eopl
e in
pos
t-war
Iraq
.
"Ira
q is
one
of th
e m
ost y
outh
ful c
ount
ries
in th
e w
orld
- nea
rly 5
0% o
f the
pop
ula
on
is le
ss th
an 1
9 ye
ars o
ld"
For t
he g
ood
part
of a
dec
ade
im-
ages
of w
ar to
rn ir
aq w
ere
beam
ed
into
the
hom
es o
f Aus
tral
ians
on
an
alm
ost d
aily
bas
is. W
e he
ard
stor
ies
of th
e ra
pid
fall
of th
e no
torio
us d
ic-
tato
r who
gov
erne
d th
e co
untr
y fo
r ov
er X
yea
rs a
nd th
en o
ngoi
ng v
io-
lenc
e by
ext
rem
ists f
rom
opp
osin
g re
ligou
s gro
ups
and
terr
orist
s.
Sinc
e th
e vi
olen
ce
peak
ed in
200
6,
elec
ons
in 2
010
and
the
with
-dr
awel
of A
mer
ican
troo
ps o
n 20
11
we
have
hea
rd le
ss o
f life
in Ir
aq in
th
e m
edia
. Do
es th
is m
ean
life
has
impr
oved
and
all
is ba
ck to
nor
mal
? If
the
num
ber o
f Asy
lum
See
kers
re
ques
ng
Aust
ralia
n re
fuge
e pr
o-te
c o
n vi
sas f
rom
Iraq
is a
nyth
ing
to
go b
y, lif
e m
ust s
ll b
e to
ugh
in th
is M
iddl
e Ea
ster
n co
untr
y.
Iraq
has b
een
the
third
hig
hest
co
untr
y of
orig
in fo
r tho
se se
ek-
Iraq
has b
een
the
thirdd
hihiighghghgh
esest
coun
try
of o
rigin
for t
hose
seekekekek
----
ing
prot
ec o
n vi
sas o
ver t
he la
st
thre
e ye
ars,
beh
ind
Afgh
anist
an a
nd
Iran.
Eve
n m
ore
conc
erni
ng is
that
th
e nu
mbe
r is s
light
ly in
crea
sing
(inst
ead
of d
eclin
ing
as w
e w
ould
ex
pect
pos
t war
): 32
3 - 2
009/
2010
, 36
5 - 2
010/
2011
and
396
in fi
rst
thre
e qu
arte
rs -
2011
/201
2 (D
epar
t-m
ent o
f Im
mig
ra o
n an
d Ci
zen
ship
: Mar
ch 2
012)
.
In o
rder
for u
s to
unde
r-st
and
the
reas
ons w
hy so
m
any
seek
resid
ence
her
in
clud
ing
why
app
roxi
-m
atel
y 50
% o
f the
se a
re p
repa
red
to ta
ke e
xtre
me
risks
by
com
ing
here
ille
gally
by
boat
.
To u
nder
stan
d th
is iss
ue w
e fi r
st
need
to c
ompa
re th
e cu
rren
t hea
lth
stat
us a
nd h
uman
dev
elop
men
t le
vels
in Ir
aq a
nd A
ustr
alia
and
in-
ves
gae
the
fact
ors t
hat l
ead
to th
is qu
ality
of l
ife e
very
day
in Ir
aq.
The
over
all H
ealth
Sta
tus o
f Aus
-tr
alia
is m
uch
high
er th
an th
at o
f Ira
q. A
ccor
ding
to th
e la
test
U
nite
d N
a o
ns D
evel
opm
ent
Prog
ram
(UN
DP) -
Hea
lth
Inde
x, A
ustr
alia
is ra
nked
5t
h in
the
wor
ld, w
hils
Iraq
is ra
nked
121
. Li
fe
expe
ctan
cy is
alm
ost
twel
ve y
ears
long
er in
Au
stra
lia th
an in
Iraq
(8
1.9
year
s to
69 y
ears
re
spec
vel
y).
Sadl
y Ira
q ex
perie
nced
a d
ecre
ase
in li
fe e
xpec
tanc
y ov
er
the
past
dec
ade
as
viol
ence
pea
ked
arou
nd
2006
. Th
ey h
ave
show
n so
me
sligh
t im
prov
emen
t in
the
past
yea
r.
Due
to v
iole
nce
over
the
past
dec
ades
Iraq
’s M
orbi
dity
ra
te is
low
er th
an A
ustr
alia
at 4
.73
deat
hs a
nnua
lly p
er 1
000
peop
le,
com
pare
d to
6.9
4 in
Aus
tral
ia.
This
is be
caus
e to
a la
tge
exte
nt d
ue to
th
e w
ar, I
raq
is no
w o
ne o
f the
mos
t yo
uthf
ul c
ount
ries i
n th
e w
orld
- ne
arly
50%
of t
he p
opul
a o
n is
less
th
an 1
9 ye
ars o
ld (U
NDP
: 20
12).
Au
stra
lia’s
deat
h ra
te is
hig
her d
ue
to o
ur a
gein
g po
pula
on.
One
in
ten
wom
en in
Iraq
is a
war
wid
ow
(Zai
nab
Salb
i: 20
10).
The
mai
n ca
uses
of d
eath
and
M
orbi
dity
/Bur
den
of D
iseas
e al
so
vary
gre
atly.
Lik
e m
ost d
evel
oped
co
untr
ies t
ha m
ain
con
but
or to
Ye
ars o
f Life
Los
t in
Aust
ralia
is b
y fa
r Com
mun
icab
le D
iseas
es (s
uch
as
Canc
er a
nd C
ardi
o Va
scul
ar D
iseas
e)
at 7
9%.
This
cate
gory
onl
y co
n b
-ut
es 2
5% in
Iraq
, whe
re li
ke in
mos
t w
ar to
rn d
evel
opin
g na
ons
, Com
-m
unic
able
Dise
ases
(suc
h as
TB)
- 3
5%, a
nd In
jurie
s - 4
0%, a
re th
e m
ain
caus
es (W
HO: 2
011)
.
Whe
n lo
okin
g at
ove
rall
Hum
an
Deve
lopm
ent,
Aust
ralia
was
rank
ed
muc
h hi
gher
at 2
nd in
the
wor
ld
(HDI
: 0.9
29),
whi
lst Ir
aq w
as ra
nked
13
2nd
(HDI
: 0.5
73).
Thi
s ind
icat
or
can
be c
onsid
ered
whe
n lo
okin
g at
qu
ality
of l
ife, t
he a
mou
nt o
f op-
ons
and
cho
ices
pop
ula
on
grou
ps
have
and
eve
n th
e ch
ance
thes
e pe
ople
hav
e to
fulfi
ll th
eir p
oten
- a
l. T
he in
dica
tor i
s det
erm
ined
by
ra n
gs in
Edu
ca o
n, H
ealth
and
In
com
e.
The
signifi c
ant c
leav
age
betw
een
heal
th st
atus
of A
ustr
alia
ns c
om-
pare
to Ir
aqis
has a
lread
y be
en d
is-cu
ssed
, ala
rmin
gly
the
gap
in e
duca
- o
n an
d in
com
e is
even
gre
ater
.
Acco
rdin
g to
the
UN
Edu
ca o
n In
dex,
Aus
tral
ia is
rank
ed 3
rd, w
hilst
Ira
q is
rank
ed 1
39th
in th
e w
orld
. Ira
qis t
ypic
ally
a e
nd a
bout
hal
f the
Indi
cato
rAu
stra
liaIra
q
Life
Exp
ecta
ncy
(201
1)#
81.9
69
Mor
bidi
ty ^
Prev
elan
ce o
f TB
(200
9) -
per 1
00 0
007.
811
7
Inci
denc
e of
TB
(200
9) -
per 1
00 0
006.
464
Mor
talit
y (2
009)
*62
222
Mor
talit
y (2
009)
^ - D
eath
Rat
e /
1000
6.94
4.73
Infa
nt (2
009)
436
Und
er-5
(200
9)5
44
Mat
erna
l (20
08)
875
Burd
en o
f Dis
ease
*
YLL
- Com
mun
icab
le (2
008)
635
YLL
- Non
-Com
mun
icab
le (2
008)
7925
YLL
- Inj
urie
s (20
08)
1540
Hum
an D
evel
opm
ent I
ndex
(HDI
)#0.
929
0.57
3
Educ
a o
n In
dex
0.98
10.
491
Heal
th In
dex
0.97
60.
774
Inco
me
Inde
x 0.
837
0.49
5
GDP
(PPP
Int.
$)’
$ 36
910
$ 3
370
* Wor
ld H
ealth
Sta
tistic
s 201
1 - W
.H.O
.#
Inte
rnat
iona
l Hum
an D
evelo
pmen
t Ind
icat
ors 2
011-
U.N
.D.P.
^ CI
A -
Wor
ld F
actb
ook
’ Glo
bal H
ealth
Obs
erva
tory
(GH
O) -
W.H
.O.
6
79
15
YLL
Com
mun
icab
le(2
008)
YLL
Non
Com
mun
icab
le(2
008)
YLL
Inju
ries(
2008
)
35
25
40
Iraq
Aust
ralia
% C
ontr
ibu
on
to B
urde
n of
Dis
ease
year
s of s
choo
ling
(9.8
yea
rs) w
hen
com
pare
d to
Aus
tral
ians
(18
year
s).
Gend
er in
equi
ty a
lso h
as a
maj
or
impa
ct o
n th
e ed
uca
on
of c
hild
ren
and
adol
esce
nts i
n Ira
q.
Iraq’
s Gro
ss D
omes
c P
rodu
ct (G
DP)
is le
ss th
an o
ne 1
0th
of A
ustr
alia
’s pe
r cap
ita, a
t $3
370
and
$36
910
resp
ec v
ely.
Unf
ortu
natly
, lik
e Li
fe
Expe
ctan
cy, G
DP sh
owed
a si
g-nifi c
ant d
ecre
ase
betw
een
2000
($
4468
) and
200
5 ($
2897
) and
is o
nly
now
show
ing
signs
of r
ecov
ery.
Whe
n lo
okin
g at
the
indi
cato
rs e
x-am
ined
it b
ecom
es re
adily
app
aren
t th
e Ira
q la
gs b
ehin
d Au
stra
lia b
y a
long
way
in b
oth
Heal
th a
nd H
u-m
an D
evel
opm
ent.
Bot
h of
thes
e ar
eas h
ave
take
n a
signifi c
ant h
it be
-tw
eem
200
3 an
d 20
10 a
nd a
re n
ow
just
star
ng
to sh
ow si
gns o
f rec
ov-
ery.
Cle
arly
Pol
i ca
l Sta
bilit
y an
d W
ar h
ave
had
a m
assiv
e im
pact
oon
th
e sit
ua o
n in
Iraq
. Th
is an
d iss
ues
such
as t
rade
, edu
ca o
n, h
ealth
care
an
d ge
nder
equ
ity n
ow n
eed
to b
e ex
amin
ed a
nd a
dres
seds
if li
fe in
Ira
q is
to im
prov
e.