 
 
    
|
STEVE MATTHEWS ON IRAQ
Iraq Interview 3/25/03
Interviewer: Steve Matthews, tell us who you’re with, and what you’re doing in the region.
Steve Matthews: I work for World Vision. I’m an Emergency Relief Communications Manager, and we’re in the region right now looking to take care of refugees that might flow out of Iraq during the conflict. Interviewer: This is the second time we’ve spoken to you. The last time we talked, the war hadn’t started. What’s been happening in the region as far as refugees?
Steve Matthews: Well, we noticed a mood change immediately when the war started, and that goes with most of the Arab world, I’m sure. For the refugees, nothing has really started yet, but this is still very early in the war, so we need to reflect back on 1991 during the Gulf War, which ran for 43 days, and the refugee flow did not start immediately back then either.
Interviewer: If there isn’t a refugee flow, will there be any need for World Vision to stay in the region?
Steve Matthews: Yeah, because in our planning, we don’t need to have a refugee flow in order to be useful and also to take advantage of the resource and energy we put here. We have a Phase One and Phase Two plan. Phase One is for the flow of refugees out of Iraq into the surrounding countries, and Phase Two is for working inside Iraq. Now, if Phase One does not develop with refugees coming out as we have expected them to, we can take those resources and those people and the planning that we’ve done and move into Iraq once the conflict ends.
Interviewer: Is World Vision operating a refugee camp in the region?
Steve Matthews: Nobody in humanitarian relief actually operates on their own anymore. Everything is done in partnership. So World Vision is one part of a camp near the Jordanian border and also has plans for other camps. And I’ll give you an example. We provide transport, blankets, collapsible water containers and shelter materials in the one camp.
Interviewer: You just recently visited one of the refugee camps. Can you tell us about that?
Steve Matthews: It’s a refugee camp in the desert between Jordan and Iraq. It’s out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I slept there, and it was very cold. We slept in a refugee tent. I had a couple of blankets but still was very cold there. It’s a very windswept area. While it’s very cold at night, it can also get very hot in the daytime.
Interviewer: What will World Vision do with relief goods and donated funds if the refugee influx is small?
Steve Matthews: It will be used for the second phase of the operation, and that is to help in the reconstruction of Iraq, which also includes helping the people.
Interviewer: Now that the bombs have started to drop and the war is in full swing, what’s the security situation in the region for aid workers?
Steve Matthews: World Vision has security protocols that we follow and have been following ever since we arrived in the region about six months ago. Those security protocols were reviewed the night before the war started, and we are following those protocols right now.
Interviewer: Thank you, Steve, and we hope to be talking to you again soon.
Steve Matthews: And thank you very much for calling.
