Web Offers Escape from Harsh Realities
Internet cafes provide safe haven for Baghdadis desperate for a chat and a link with the outside world.
Web Offers Escape from Harsh Realities
Internet cafes provide safe haven for Baghdadis desperate for a chat and a link with the outside world.
The al-Mawla internet cafe - which opened in Baghdad shortly after Sadaam Hussien was ousted in April 2003 - is stocked with old computers and it’s unbearably hot because there isn’t enough power for air conditioners.
But in the evening, it’s packed with 18-35 year-olds doing everything online from searching for potential mates to chatting with work colleagues.
Under Saddam’s regime, the internet was only accessible in some government offices, but with the ending of Baathist censorship and other forms of communication restrictions, usage has burgeoned and the web is now a source of entertainment, a well of knowledge and precious connection to the outside world.
The deteriorating security situation in Baghdad, the soaring unemployment rate - conservative estimates put it at 30 per cent - and a lack of other entertainment options, such as parks or cinemas, have been a boon to hundreds of internet cafes that have opened up across the country since 2003.
"Most of my clients are young people, some of them spend more than five hours chatting," said Mohammed Ali, the 35-year-old owner of the al-Mawla internet cafe.
Ali said women tend to use the internet for research, while men, in general, surf it for fun.
Luay Khalil, an unemployed 21-year-old accounting graduate who lives with his 13-member family in Sadr City, spends much of his time at the al-Hasanen internet café near his home.
"I am here because I need to get out of the house and forget that I am jobless," said Khalil. "I’m trying to find an educated girl and build a relationship through a chat room." He added that he thought internet cafes were safer than markets or other crowded places insurgents tend to target.
Al-Hasanen’s owner, 29-year-old Mohammed al-Ani, said he often cuts Khalil a break on the one US dollar per hour usage rate - the standard rate at Baghdad’s internet cafes - usually charging him about half.
Saad Mahmood, a 25-year-old law student, who was sitting in front of one of the computers in al-Mawla cafe, said he turns up with a friend almost every day after classes.
"I come here to escape the explosions that target everybody,” said Mahmood.
Mahmood said he used to go to clubs, cafes or restaurants but because of the proliferation of assassinations and bombings, his main source of entertainment is now al-Mawla, as its safer.
Although, he admits that even these apparent havens get caught up in the violence from time to time. Last month, Muhsin Ali, owner of one in the Shurta Rabia'a neighborhood, was kidnapped in broad daylight.
Nonetheless, said Mahmood, internet cafes offer young people a connection to the outside world and without the possibility of walking freely in the streets, they will continue to hang out there.
Hussein al-Yasiri is an IWPR trainee journalist in Baghdad.
But in the evening, it’s packed with 18-35 year-olds doing everything online from searching for potential mates to chatting with work colleagues.
Under Saddam’s regime, the internet was only accessible in some government offices, but with the ending of Baathist censorship and other forms of communication restrictions, usage has burgeoned and the web is now a source of entertainment, a well of knowledge and precious connection to the outside world.
The deteriorating security situation in Baghdad, the soaring unemployment rate - conservative estimates put it at 30 per cent - and a lack of other entertainment options, such as parks or cinemas, have been a boon to hundreds of internet cafes that have opened up across the country since 2003.
"Most of my clients are young people, some of them spend more than five hours chatting," said Mohammed Ali, the 35-year-old owner of the al-Mawla internet cafe.
Ali said women tend to use the internet for research, while men, in general, surf it for fun.
Luay Khalil, an unemployed 21-year-old accounting graduate who lives with his 13-member family in Sadr City, spends much of his time at the al-Hasanen internet café near his home.
"I am here because I need to get out of the house and forget that I am jobless," said Khalil. "I’m trying to find an educated girl and build a relationship through a chat room." He added that he thought internet cafes were safer than markets or other crowded places insurgents tend to target.
Al-Hasanen’s owner, 29-year-old Mohammed al-Ani, said he often cuts Khalil a break on the one US dollar per hour usage rate - the standard rate at Baghdad’s internet cafes - usually charging him about half.
Saad Mahmood, a 25-year-old law student, who was sitting in front of one of the computers in al-Mawla cafe, said he turns up with a friend almost every day after classes.
"I come here to escape the explosions that target everybody,” said Mahmood.
Mahmood said he used to go to clubs, cafes or restaurants but because of the proliferation of assassinations and bombings, his main source of entertainment is now al-Mawla, as its safer.
Although, he admits that even these apparent havens get caught up in the violence from time to time. Last month, Muhsin Ali, owner of one in the Shurta Rabia'a neighborhood, was kidnapped in broad daylight.
Nonetheless, said Mahmood, internet cafes offer young people a connection to the outside world and without the possibility of walking freely in the streets, they will continue to hang out there.
Hussein al-Yasiri is an IWPR trainee journalist in Baghdad.
