International sanctions, such as those that have now been imposed on Russia, always burden the civilian population. In Iraq, a whole generation of children suffered from the massive UN sanctions against Saddam Hussein – with consequences that continue to this day.
Of
Dunya Ramadan
Huda Alhasani knows all too well what it’s like to live under sanctions. The 30-year-old Iraqi was born in Basra in the south of the country in 1991. Shortly before her birth, the United Nations Security Council imposed a near-total economic blockade on her homeland in response to the Second Gulf War. In August 1990, President Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi troops invaded neighboring Kuwait. Her homeland was heavily indebted after the Iran-Iraq war, and Hussein was targeting the oil fields of the wealthy neighboring country. Five months later, a US-led international coalition intervened on Kuwait’s behalf and pushed back Iraqi forces.