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Ashki Shkur's first glimpses of the Vancouver area came from the back of an RCMP cruiser after she and her family were arrested for walking across the U.S. border in search of asylum in 2017.

Now the 18-year-old Britannia Secondary student, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, is headed to the University of British Columbiain the fall with dreams of becoming a surgeon and of a scholarshipthat fully covers her tuition and residence.

"It feels like a dream. This is all I've asked for. This is all I've worked for my whole life to be able to follow my dreams and to be able to attend university," Shkur told CBC.

She's been awarded an $80,000 Centennial Scholars Entrance Award,which she has accepted. She was also offered a $70,000 TD Scholarship for Community Leadership, a $40,000 Beedie Luminaries scholarship, a $29,000 Terry Fox Awardand a number of other smaller scholarships, which will now go to other students.

Had she decided to attend Simon Fraser University in Burnaby instead, Shkur was granted scholarships that would have covered her tuition there as well.

"I really couldn't have done any of this without the community that I have at Britannia and the people that support me," Shkur said.

"When I first came here, as soon as I went to Britannia, I felt that sense of community that I never had back home."

Annie Danilko, president ofthe board of management for the Britannia Community Services Centre, where Shkur is also a board member, said it's no surprise to see the young woman having such success.

"The whole board was inspired by Ashki," Danilko said. "I didn't really know her history too much because she didn't really talk about it. She would talk instead about how she really wanted to give back to the communitythat she lives in because the community ... helped her so much."

Shkur, along with her parents,Ayub Nasralddin and Arazw Hama Ali and her younger sister Hanasa, joined a surge of irregular border crossings into Canada in 2017after then-president Donald Trump announced a ban on people entering the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

They had left Iraq a little less than a year earlier, and Shkur said the plan was always to settle in Canada. She said as soon as her family landed in the U.S. in 2016, they hopped in a cab and headed for the border with Ontario to claim refugee status.

"I remember that was the only line that I knew in English, and I had to memorize it for a whole week. It was, 'Can we seek asylum?'" Shkur said.

But they were unaware of Canada's Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., which means refugee claimants are required to request asylum in the first "safe" country they land in. The family was turned back to the States and told they'd need to wait another year before trying to get into Canada.

They stayedin the U.S. almost long enough.

"Everything was great. My dad was working. We were going to school. And then President Donald Trump came," Shkur remembered. "We were afraid that we would get deported."

And so, the family crossed the border on foot near the Peace Arch crossing and were taken into custody.

Because they were a few days short of a full year, Shkur said, they had to request special consideration for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The family spent a year gathering letters of support from community members, teachers, employers and anyone else they could find in order to be approved.

Now as she rounds out her final year at Britannia Secondary, Shkur is student council president and says she's usually at school from 8:40 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day, busy with school clubs and extracurriculars.

She spends some of her free time working with non-profits and serving on the board at the community centre.

Danilko, the board president, is Haida from Old Massettand said it's always been important for her to represent the voices of people who normally aren't heard, like Indigenous people, people with lower incomes and new immigrants.

She said it's clear Shkur shares that mission.

"When you have these very forward-thinking young people that are there, and they are fighting for the people that aren't being heard, they're changing things," Danilko said.

Shkur's family has added a new member since their arrival in B.C. little sister Niya is now three.

"Everyone says she's exactly like me," Shkur said, laughing.

Her dad, whom she credits for her strong work ethic, works as a landscaper, and her other sister is in Grade 9 at Britannia. They're all permanent residents now, and the family hopes to apply for Canadian citizenship next year.

Now that high school is nearly over, and everything is in place for university, Shkur said she might take some time to relax and celebrate.

"I will try my best, but I really love being busy. I can't imagine not knowing what I'm going to be doing. I just can't," she said.

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Vancouver teen who fled Iraq and then Trump heads to UBC with full-ride scholarship - CBC.ca

A Tory minister who was born in Iraq was asked what would have happened to him if he was sent to Rwanda, as the government's controversial migration scheme hits the headlines once more.

Nadhim Zahawi was interviewed yesterday ahead of the first planned flight to the country, which was later thwarted by the ECHR.

Sky News' Jayne Secker said one of the people scheduled to go on the plane was from Iraq and drew comparisons between him and Zahawi who came to the UK aged 11 from the country.

"How do you think you would have fared if you had been put on a plane and sent to Rwanda?" she asked.

Zahawi replied: "The important thing to remember is we have legal routes for immigration or for asylum and refuge in our country and we want to make sure that people come here legally."

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He also said he was "very proud" of schemes to settle people fleeing Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine but said gangs were "preying on the vulnerabilities of families" by "putting them on unsafe boats" in the channel.

"We've got to break their business model so that actually the legal routes are the way forward," he said. "Those people have arrived in a safe country in France. My family fled directly from Iraq to a safe country which is the United Kingdom and I'm very proud of that".

Last night the ECHR ruled that one of the seven people who had been scheduled to leave on the flight should not be removed. This allowed lawyers representing the others to make last-minute applications of their own.

Responding to the decision, Patel said she was disappointed by the legal challenge to the scheme which will send people arriving to the UK to the country and said that the policy will continue.

We will not be deterred from doing the right thing and delivering our plans to control our nations borders, she said. Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said that the government must take responsibility for the failed flight, and indicated that the government does not mind clashing with lawyers and the European courts.

Ministers are pursuing a policy they know isnt workable and that wont tackle criminal gangs, she wrote on Twitter last night. But they still paid Rwanda 120m and hired a jet that hasnt taken off because they just want a row and someone else to blame.

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Tory MP who migrated from Iraq asked how he would have fared if put on plane to Rwanda - indy100

Sinjar/Baghdad, 14 June 2022 The Sinjar Court House has been reopened with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Court House, which provides important legal services such as administration of justice, was left severely damaged during ISIL occupation. With generous funding from USAID, UNDP rehabilitated this important facility that serves over 25,000 people across Sinjar District. The spacious and purpose-built Court House consists of 25 rooms, a director room, four waiting rooms and one main courtroom.

The project was implemented through UNDPs flagship programme, the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS). Since 2015, USAID has contributed around US $400 million to FFS, including over $10 million in Sinjar, making it the FFS programmes leading partner.

To date, USAID has supported around 900 FFS rehabilitation projects, including critical water and electrical infrastructure, as well as schools, housing, and health facilities.

The reopening of this facility is an important milestone in the journey to rebuild Sinjar and for the rule of law to prevail in the area. Rehabilitating critical infrastructure and restoring essential services such as the Sinjar Court House is key to creating a safe and dignified environment for families choosing to return to Sinjar. Especially, through USAIDs support, UNDP has been able to prioritize support to the Yazidi survivors of genocide as they return and rebuild their lives after years of conflict and trauma, says UNDP Resident Representative in Iraq, Zena Ali Ahmad.

"Restoring access to the judicial system is a critical component of the recovery process. The reopening of the Sinjar Court House is therefore a beacon of hope for the entire Yazidi community. USAID is proud of our work to rehabilitate this essential infrastructure, offering legal services and law enforcement to the residents of Sinjar," said USAID Mission Director to Iraq, John Cardenas.

We are here today because of the generous funding provided by USAID. As one of the founding partners of FFS, USAID has made generous contributions to Sinjar and to stabilization in Iraq, added Ms. Ahmad.

Since 2015, FFS has worked with the Government of Iraq and local actors to ensure safe, dignified, and voluntary returns and to lay the foundation for the successful reintegration of displaced populations into the community. To date, around 3,100 projects have been completed across the five governorates liberated from ISIL, improving the lives of more than 8 million Iraqis.

Media contact:

Mrinalini Santhanam, mrinalini.santhanam@undp.org, +964 790 193 1308

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After Destruction, Sinjar Court House Officially Reopens with Support from USAID and UNDP [EN/AR] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

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Boris Johnson refuses meeting after Kirkcaldy woman's brother jailed in Iraq - The Courier

LAKE SAWA, Iraq -- Hussam al-Aqouli remembers the exact spot along southern Iraqs Lake Sawa where his two daughters once dipped their feet into clear waters. Now he stands there two years on and the barren earth cracks beneath him.

This year, for the first time in its centuries-long history, the lake dried up. A combination of mismanagement by local investors, government neglect and climate change has ground down its azure shores to chunks of salt.

Lake Sawa is only the latest casualty in this broad country-wide struggle with water shortages that experts say is induced by climate change, including record low rainfall and back-to-back drought. The stress on water resources is driving up competition for the precious resource among businessmen, farmers and herders, with the poorest Iraqis counting among the worst hit amid the disaster.

This lake was known as the pearl of the south, said al-Aqouli, 35, a native of the nearby city of Samawa, looking out onto the dry cavernous emptiness. Now it is our tragedy.

Between the capital Baghdad and the oil-rich heartland of Basra, Muthanna is among Iraqs poorest provinces. The number of those living under the poverty line in the province is almost three times the national average.

Desert expanses dominate the landscape with a narrow ribbon of farmland along the Euphrates River in the north. Economic development was hindered by the countrys turbulent history, neglect by the Baath party regime since the 1980s, then later by wars and sanctions.

Locals call the area surrounding Lake Sawa atshan or simply thirsty in Arabic.

Formed over limestone rock and studded with gypsum formations, the lake has no inlet or outlet and the source of its waters had mystified experts for centuries, fueling fantastical folklore and religious tales that locals recite as historical fact.

Al-Aqouli spent his childhood frequenting the lake with his family. He hoped he could do the same when he started a family, he said. Instead he spends his days on social media writing long blog posts and urging Iraqis to take action. Often, he feels hopeless.

The lake rises 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level and is about 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) long and 1.8 kilometers (1 mile) wide.

Lake Sawa appears in some old Islamic texts. It is said the lake miraculously formed on the day the Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 A.D. Thousands of religious tourists visited the site annually to submerge themselves in its holy waters, which they believe are blessed by God.

The lakes rich mineral deposits are also considered a cure by some for skin diseases prevalent in historically neglected Muthanna.

Locals say the drying up of the waters of Lake Sawa presages the return of the Imam al-Mahdi, a revered figure in Shiite Islam and a descendent of the prophet.

It means the end of days is near, said al-Aqouli, in jest.

For environmentalists, the doomsday predictions may not be far off.

Studies have shown the lake is fed by underground water sources through a system of cracks and fissures. It can also receive rainwater from surrounding valleys and heavy rainfall in past years has caused flash floods.

The degradation of the water began over 10 years ago, but this summer was the first time we lost the entire wetland, said Laith Ali al-Obeidi, an environmental activist in southern Iraq.

Experts said the lake has not dried up for good but its disappearance this year is a concerning consequence of the thousands of illegal wells dug by businessmen in nearby cement factories and manufacturing zones, a result of drought and decreasing waters along the nearby Euphrates.

By early June, some water began to reappear because farmers, done with the harvest season, stopped diverting underground water.

Mounds of salt line the road to the river in Muthanna province and are overseen by enterprising locals who extract it by diverting groundwater and digging wells. The salt is used as a raw material in various industries in the area.

Mortadha Ali, 45, is involved in the salt business in Muthanna. He blames years of government neglect in the province for the disappearance of Lake Sawa. They should provide people with jobs, so they arent obliged to dig wells to make a living, he said.

Enforcing the closure of illegal wells and additional protective measures would have reversed Lake Sawa's decline, said Aoun Diab, an adviser to the Water Resources Ministry. But these would have directly affected the economic interests of provincial officials.

This has disrupted a delicate and interdependent ecosystem sustained by the rare desert oasis.

Species of fish, unfit for human consumption, were food for various vulnerable migratory birds that sojourned along its banks. With the fish gone, the birds too will have to reroute their seasonal passage or perish, said al-Obeidi.

And the future is poised to bring more hardship, with alarming predictions of more water stress. The Water Resources Ministry has said water levels decreased by 60% compared to last year in 2022.

Lake Sawa is a case study for climate change in Iraq, al-Obeidi said. This is the future.

But the lake is also a ghost of its former illustrious past.

The only body of water near to the city of Samawah, the area boasted thousands of tourists a year. Their waste water bottles, soda cans and abandoned flip flops remain along the dried up shores as an ode to what the impoverished area has lost.

Holiday installations built decades ago stand half-finished. Most were looted after the Gulf War in the 1990s and then after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

In 2014, Lake Sawa was named a Ramsar site, an international designation for important wetlands, gaining recognition as a rare area in need of protection. A large billboard marking the occasion overlooks the site. Local authorities hoped this would boost tourism and government resources to resume development of the area. Plans were drafted to pave roads and walkways around the lake, as well as electricity lines and water projects.

Ultimately, these failed to transpire.

The hot air was heavy as al-Aqouli took one last look of the lake before leaving.

Believe me, it was beautiful, he said.

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Iraq's 'pearl of the south' Lake Sawa dry amid water crisis - ABC News