Isaac Youkhana: Good morning.

Isaac Youkhana: Well I think you as well for letting me come here to this library, Cabramatta and tell you a little bit of my history.

Isaac Youkhana: Yeah sure. I don't know where I'll start but I think I'll start to introduce first of all my parents. My father's name was Warda Youkhana, my mother's name was Esmer Youkhana. I was born on December 1935. It's a very easy day to remember, end of the year, always it's my birthday. I was born of course in Kirkuk. Everybody knows now, Kirkuk, Kirkuk is a very rich city. They used to call it the City of black gold because there was so much oil in it. Even now you know Kirkuk is one of the biggest cities in north of Iraq and has heaps of oil and is a very rich country, very rich city I mean. And at the age of 12 years I applied for a job in the Iraq Petroleum Company. I was 12 years and when I went there to apply for a job the employment officer told me, ‘listen son, you're too young, there's no job for you.’ So really in one way or another I wanted to work so I said, ‘no, I can do anything you can give me, you know.’ So they said, ‘okay, I'll engage you as a learner clerk.’ So I started working then for around about 280 Fils, 280 Fils was a lot of money then, you know. It was $2.80 now. So I worked in this department, used to be called the budgets and statistics.

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In 1958 there was a revolution in Iraq and even before 1958 there was always troubles in Iraq you know, every now and then there was something happening in Iraq. But this particular revolution in 1958, everything was changed in Iraq. There was wars, the army, the government fighting with the Kurds in northern Iraq and the war lasted for so many years you know. And always this war has been fought in the past between the Assyrians, Kurds, Arabs, everybody you know.

2:54 minutes

Isaac Youkhana: Yes, so the Iraq Country really has not been stable. There was always wars in it and besides that, Iraq used to be an Arab country and they used say this is an Arab Muslim country. So by saying this that means there was no really future for the Christians in that country. So I always thought of really migrating to a country, to a western country where, to a Christian western country, so that I take my children there and have a future. So in 1965 I decided to migrate. And then I heard that some of the Assyrians have already migrated to Australia and then I started thinking about Australia. So in 1966, I think it was, I sent a letter to the, from Kirkuk, from the city which I used to live in, Kirkuk, I sent a letter to the Immigration Department in Canberra and I said I'm, I want to migrate to Australia. And really it didn't take that long. Maybe it was only one month that they sent me a reply and said yes, we have organised a appointment for you with the British consulate in Baghdad. You can go there and have interview with them.

Isaac Youkhana: Really it wasn't be Australian consulate it was the British consulate that's right. So they used to do the Australian job. They used to do the job for the Australians. But no it was the British consulate in Baghdad. Well of course the British they had the embassy as well in Baghdad you know but this was a consulate. So when they sent me a letter I went for this appointment and I took my family and my children and went to have this appointment with the consulate. And he said, ‘okay son do you want to migrate to Australia?’ I said, ‘yes I would like to migrate to Australia.’ he said, ‘what's the reason you want to migrate to Australia?’ well I told them that really I want to go somewhere that I have a future for my children and peace, you know. Because here as you see you know, there's always wars and there's always revolutions. I can't see any future for me or for my children. So I'd better go to a country where there is a future in it.

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So I went for my medical exams in Baghdad and all the reports and medical examinations were sent to Canberra. And it didn't take, I think it was around about three months it took that I was accepted as an immigrant. I travelled, or I migrated to Australia in April 1967. In April 1967 at that time for some reason I think you had to travel by ship, you were not allowed to travel by air. And to my understanding they said that if you have a disease during this time you are in the ship, something, the symptoms will show up you know. So that was the reason.

6:42 minutes

Isaac Youkhana: Well really, not to my knowledge. We were never told the reason. I mean I myself, nobody told me what was the reason, what was the reason you know but there was no other alternative, you cannot travel by plane, you were told that you have to travel by ship. It took round about 21 days to travel from Port Said to Fremantle. 21 days we were in this ship, but it was a beautiful ship you know. It was luxurious you know, you go into the restaurant, a big restaurant you know, have anything you like you know. In the breakfast have eggs, bacon, sausages, coffee, tea because it's included all in the fare you know. So it took us around about 21 days to travel from Port Said to Fremantle and then I remember it stayed in Fremantle for 24 hours. The ship stayed there for 24 hours and then me and this friend of mine Isiah, I call him ‘mummy siah.’ he said, ‘let us go and have a drink you know, somewhere in the shop.’ So I remember we went to this, this was the first time we see an Australian city, Fremantle you know. Fremantle is a very nice city. So we walked into this pub, behind the bar and we ordered a bottle of beer. And then, like everybody was looking at us. We felt we were doing something wrong you know. Like, behind the pub you can't order a bottle of beer but they give you middies or schooners but we didn't know this you know. So this guy thought that we were buying this one, we were going to drink it outside. But when we bought it he said, ‘can you open the bottle please.’ So he was looking at us and everybody else was looking at us and we took the bottle, drink with the bottle. Not realising we can by schooners and middies you know or whatever it is. So, and then we were surprised by the size of the bottle of the beer because the beer we had in Iraq was 600 mls but this particular bottle an Australian bottle before used to be around about 750 mls, so it was a very big bottle you know. And a different taste it used to give.

9:25 minutes

Isaac Youkhana: No idea. Maybe it might have been a DA or a Pilsener, Reschs or something you know I can't remember what it was you know. But it was very nice beer, very nice beer.

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My wife was crying one night you know, why do you have bring us, to bring us to this here to Australia. She was really very upset because back home in Kirkuk I used to have a very nice house, full brick house and we had good living there, I used to work in this company you know. I used to have a car, Peugeot car and we came here, we don't know nobody in this strange country, nobody tell us you know. So she was very upset, she cried, was crying all night that night, she never slept that night. My wife used to cry and I said, ‘you don't need to come to this country you know, you had a job there and everything was alright.’ So she used to feel very sorry for me you know, all day looking for a job and can't find a job because there was nobody to tell you, you know because we Iraqis especially the Assyrians, came to this country, there's no assistance for us, there's no assisted passage.

Isaac Youkhana: No government assistance, nobody to to... just to give us permission to come to Australia as immigrants. We thank them but nobody used to look after us you know.

Isaac Youkhana: To be honest with you there was but we never knew about them. We never applied for social security. We never went to the employment offices up to now. I've never been to an employment office in my life in Australia. Since I've been working in this country and I was retired, now I'm getting pension.

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Isaac Youkhana: Well really, my impression like, one thing we didn't like here in Australia, in Fairfield, the houses. The brick veneer. We used to call them cartoon houses you know because the houses we used to have in Iraq, like this is the new Kirkuk, were full brick houses, beautiful modern European houses you know, full brick and cement everything. So when you came to these houses here, they were fibro, brick veneer and not even brick veneer you know. I mean before houses built were all fibro, they used to build only about half a dozen fibro, one brick veneer house. And that brick veneer house was a bit more expensive but only about 2 or $3,000 more than the fibro houses. But this was the impression we got, we used to call them cartoon houses you know because like if you punch, if you give them a punch you know, you'll go through the gyprock. But they looked very nice you know, like, they looked very nice houses like you look in a magazine you know, how nice it is. They looked that nice you know, they were beautiful houses but this was our impression about them you know. We want them to be solid brick houses you know.