Fleeing Falluja: Families speak out

Hundreds of Iraqis have been made homeless by the fighting

Thousands of Iraqis fled the city of Falluja in the weeks leading up to the assault on the city by US forces.

BBCArabic.com spoke to three families who left the city to seek shelter. They spoke of the terror they felt as violence escalated, but also of the kindness of relatives and friends who aided them despite the risks.

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The AL-JABURI FAMILY

When the US bombardments got heavier one month ago, we decided to flee from Falluja.

My family is made up of 18 people - my father and mother who are very old and the rest who are sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters.

All we wish for is to return to Falluja soon and get together as one family again

We couldn't afford to rent a house in one place and because there were so many of us we couldn't go to a relative's house.

So we decided to split ourselves in groups to live separately in different locations around Iraq.

But the majority of us went to Baghdad.

We don't have enough supplies, but the family that we are living with in Baghdad is very kind.

Eyewitness: Fear in Falluja

Our host, a woman called Um Ali, says she is willing to let us live with them for one year and that if the house was big enough she would host all our family together, despite her poverty.

She had to borrow money so she could pay for all the people who are living in the house - including our family.

There are all kinds of rumours about what has happened to people who stayed in Falluja. Of course many people must have been killed. We heard that the Americans took many people prisoner, not only fighters.

Thanks to God, we escaped from the bombardment. But we feel that we are going to be away from our homes longer than we initially thought.

We are very upset because the Iraqi government didn't stand with us in this bad time and didn't help us with anything.

It's hard to know what's going to happen to us in the immediate future. All we wish for is to return to Falluja soon and to get together as one family again.

UM ABDALLAH'S FAMILY

We are a family from Falluja that is made up of six members - myself, my three daughters and my two sons.

I decided to flee from the city weeks before the beginning of the American assault. I felt that it was too dangerous for my kids to stay there.

We saw the American bombardment getting closer and closer and we knew then that we would get hurt.

We left everything there to save ourselves and took only some bags of clothes with us

We decided to go to live at my married daughter's house in Baghdad, which is big and can accommodate two families at the same time.

The situation in Falluja was bad before the assault and it is worse now.

Two things were threatening the residents of Falluja. Firstly, there were armed combatants who are made of some Iraqis and some Arab combatants, and secondly the American forces who were threatening us all the time.

Some families have had to stay in tents provided by the Iraqi government

What pushed us to leave the city was the Iraqi government announcement that the beginning of the assault on Falluja will begin soon, and that all Falluja's residents have to leave, so we left without any hesitation.

We left everything there to save ourselves and took only some bags of clothes with us.

The majority of the residents decided to leave and live with relatives in other Iraqi districts.

Those who couldn't afford to rent accommodation or didn't have relatives outside the city were forced to live in tents provided by the government which were very simple and uncomfortable.

We heard that some residents lived in chalets in the tourist city of Habbania as a temporary residence. Some lived in hospitals and public schools.

I blame the Iraqi government because it didn't take the necessary measures to protect unarmed citizens.

Unfortunately, the only goal that the government cared about was to get rid of the armed militias.

ABU OMAR AL DLIMI'S FAMILY

This is not the first time we have left Falluja.

We fled when the Iraqi government gave the ultimatum to the insurgents, went back again, but had to run away when the situation escalated badly and the raids on the city intensified.

All we knew was that we had to leave as fast as possible if we wanted to stay alive

We took off as soon as the government asked us to leave. We left heavy-heartedly as we simply didn't know where we were going.

All we knew was that we had to leave as fast as possible if we wanted to stay alive.

We decided not to leave together as we are a big family of 30 people.

We split into three groups to not attract attention.

We settled in Baghdad when a relative generously agreed to shelter us temporarily in an unfurnished apartment he owns.

Our living conditions are tougher than what we had back in Falluja.

We used to own two taxi cars, but one of them got stolen, depriving us of a much-needed source of income.

Fortunately our new neighbours stood by us. Without their help, we couldn't have made it.

When they knew about our plight, they started sending us food everyday.

A member of our family would go every day to Falluja to check if the house was looted, but couldn't go there any more when the Americans blocked all the roads into the city.

We are simple people and we have nothing to do with all that is happening in Falluja.

All we want is to live in peace. We are very thankful to our relatives for their kindness and their generosity.

Our children haven't attended school since the school year started, that's why we are going to enrol them in a school in Baghdad temporarily this year until things settle down and we can return to Falluja, God willing.