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It's a point that award-winning Iraqi filmmaker Mohanad Hayal furiously makes, retelling the story of how he missed out on a visa to Australia. He says he'd been invited to take part in workshops to develop his next screenplay, among a group of prestigious international filmmakers, but was denied entry to the country. "How many of the 2,000 Australian soldiers needed a visa when they invaded my country in 2003?" he asks, speaking to me. Already grappling with his own obstacles, such as the lack of electricity while scriptwriting back home in Iraq, Hayal describes how the struggle to enter the international film scene was reinforced by travel restrictions. "I feel like I'm being treated as a terror threat, not as a filmmaker," he says. "This is bullshit man. How can I be fucking creative and share it with the world if they don't let me travel? I feel so trapped."Travel within Iraq can be tricky too, on top of the simmering security threats caused by ISIS. Sectarian divides have made it difficult for groups to travel across the various rifts. Dilshad Yousif, an Iraqi photographer of Kurdish descent, was born in Baghdad and only speaks Arabic. He was denied entry into Erbil, the capital of Kurdish Iraq. "They kept me in Erbil airport for three hours, only to send me back to Baghdad," he says. "Why? Because they saw me as a traitor for not being able to speak Kurdish."To call it complicated feels like an understatement. The generation that's grown up in the shadow of war since 2003 is one that's finding it harder to escape, even when just temporarily. In a country where sectarianism is rife, imagine the benefits to multiculturalism if young people got to experience new worlds through travel. For many, travel can start with as simple a process as booking a flight online—but for Iraqis, this rite is rarely even a consideration let alone an option.Follow Ahmed on TwitterWhen I think about the time, money, and effort that I've lost on failed visas, I'm not sure I'll have ever a chance to travel freely — Zahraa Ghandour, from Iraq