Pascale Isho Warda ( syr, ܦܐܣܟܐܠ ܐܝܫܘ ܘܪܕܐ) was the Minister of Immigration and Refugees in the Iraqi Interim Government.

Career

An Assyrian Christian, Warda was born in 1961 in the city of

Nohadra Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Sto ...

. She later was exiled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where she attended the University of Lyon and received her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in human rights studies. In 2004-2005, Warda served as Minister of Immigration and Refugees in the Iraqi Interim Government that replaced the rule of the

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdishEnglish (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

following the U.S. invasion of 2003. As minister, Warda voiced support for the execution of former Iraqi dictator

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. During her time as minister, she was invited by the

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

, for a discussion on global women's issues at the G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia. In 2005, Warda and her husband, journalist William Warda, led in the founding of the

Hammurabi Human Rights Organization The Hammurabi Human Rights Organization (also known as HHRO), founded in 2005, is a non-profit organization located in Iraq. The organization focuses on human rights on the local and international level. It also focuses on rights for minority group ...

, a non-profit group that monitors and opposes human rights violations against members of Iraq's minority groups. Since 2015, she and her husband have worked with the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities, a coalition of civil society groups working to forge better cooperation among Iraq's disparate, and often divided, minority communities--including

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, Shabaks,

Mandaeans Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. They ...

, Yarsanis (Kaka'is), Baha'is,

Faili Kurds Feylis ( ku, فه‌یلی ,Feylî, also known as Feyli Kurds), is a Kurdish tribe mainly living in the borderlands between Iraq and Iran, and in Baghdad. They speak Feyli (also known as "Ilami" or "Southern Kurdish Feyli") which is classified a ...

and

Yazidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...

. Pascale Warda also has served as President of the Assyrian Women's Union in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. In 2019, the U.S. State Department awarded Pascale and William Warda one of its inaugural International Religious Freedom Awards.

Personal life

Pascale and William Warda have two daughters, Shlama and Neshma.

Sources

Center for Foreign Relations

References

External links

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Iraqi Assyrian people Chaldean Catholics University of Lyon alumni Iraqi emigrants to France 1961 births Living people Iraqi Eastern Catholics People from Duhok 21st-century Iraqi women politicians 21st-century Iraqi politicians French people of Iraqi descent French people of Assyrian descent {{Assyrian-stub