How we treat refugees has a bearing on how we treat our own people’, says Nandita Haksar at the release of her new book

Smruti Deshpande

Nandita Haksar, a practising human rights lawyer, campaigner and teacher has written a new book Forgotten Refugees: Two Iraqi Brothers in India. The book is published by Speaking Tiger. A pre-release discussion on this book was held on March 25 at Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWCP) in New Delhi. Haksar was in conversation with FORCE’s Executive Editor, Ghazala Wahab.

The book narrates the story of two Iraqi brothers, Babil and Akkad, who came to India in 2014. Haksar, who has been dealing with refugees from 1990, met them outside the gate of UNHCR in November 2021. The two refugees were among those who were camping on the road outside the UNHCR office.

Refugees stood outside the office, angry, shouting slogans, but the UNHCR’s door was firmly closed and barricaded. Outside