The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You

The family lands in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a three-month sponsored visa from Mr. Jahangir, Baba’s wealthy relative. Maman applies for UN European asylum, and the family takes lengthy trips to Abu Dhabi for interviews. The family stays in a run-down apartment with one bed in Sharjah, near Dubai. The children worry if they will see Baba again, and Maman plays with them to take their minds off things. Baba supports the family with checks and a restaurant owner he knew.

The UAE is “a strange country where Middle Eastern unrest collided with Western decadence” (74). Maman teaches the children how to swim, and after visiting Mr. Jahangir’s Westernized family, she teaches the children English using donated books. She also changes her son’s name from Khosrou to Daniel. Maman briefly befriends a minor prince only to learn he plans to marry her and marry Nayeri to his son. Nayeri is infuriated that he could “make me a footnote in someone else’s marriage proposal!” (85).

The family’s visa expires, rendering their immigration status illegal, and the days drag on to the point that they forget that it is Ramadan. They soon meet a poor Iranian family in a similar situation, the Sadeghis.