Mosul, Iraq – Married for over a decade, Alia Abdel-Razak is one of a million Iraqis deprived of crucial civil status documents, often caught in legal limbo in a country paralyzed by bureaucracy and the ravages of war.
The 37-year-old has to overcome countless hurdles just to get her children into school, and she cannot register her family to obtain the food subsidies she and her husband so desperately need.
A mother of four, Abdel-Razak relies on a pro-bono lawyer from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid group to help her navigate the labyrinthine processes required to get her papers in order.
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