Dashni Morad, 31, fled from Iraq as a child and sought refuge in Holland
Witnessed atrocities of war during Saddam Hussein's reign
Became a Dutch TV presenter and fronted a show called Without Borders
Returned to Iraq at the age of 21 but her new found fame was met with fury
Became a successful singer but law enforcers in Iraq told people to boycott her
Now runs a charity called Green Kids to help refugee children
A singer who found fame as the 'Shakira of Kurdistan' after overcoming her troubled past as a child refugee has told how her success came at a terrible price.
Iraqi Kurd Dashni Morad, 31, returned to her home country ten years ago after her family sought refuge in Holland to escape Saddam's troops.
But her newfound fame and 'sexy' music videos caused fury among Muslim law enforcers.
She told The Mirror's Notebook magazine she had been ordered to leave Iraq by mullahs who delivered sermons about her, saying she 'should be hanged with a rope of fire.'
Dashni made a music album with a producer she befriended in Holland and along with it a video where she was 'dancing in sexy dresses'.
Although Dashni was Kurdish, the strict Muslim community were furious and warned people to boycott her music during Friday prayers, with even her extended family turning against her.
'It made me think I was nothing, and I was scared to go outside,' she said.
Dashni witnessed the horrors of war from the age of two when her grandparents' village was gassed killing 5,000.
When she was five, her family had to flee their home as Saddam's troops were ready to attack and Kurdish military fighters known as the Peshmergas were preparing for battle.
They ended up heading towards the Iranian border where they lived on a mountain in a tent for two months.
'Thousands of people were there, dying from the hunger and cold. I have memories of two men burying a dead child wrapped in a white robe a few feet from our tent,' Dashni recalled.
Although the family then returned to Iraq, Dashni's father was worried that it wouldn't be safe for them long term, so he sold everything they had to try and find somewhere in Europe for them to seek refuge.
He walked to Germany, and tried to swim to Greece seven times before being caught and sent back to Turkey.
He was successful on the eighth attempt and walked to Italy where he was helped by a church and got on a truck that took him to a refugee camp in Germany.
After two years without contact, her father was eventually helped by the Dutch government to settle in Holland where Dashni and her family joined him.
She went to school there and was taught to speak Dutch, but being one of few foreigners living in the country she said she still felt like a 'second class citizen'.
After leaving school and pursuing her career of working in the entertainment industry, Dashni interned at a Kurdish TV station where she hosted the show Without Borders.
It aired in Iraqi Kurdistan and she became an overnight hit, but it wasn't until she moved back in 2007 at the age of 21 that she realised she was famous as she wasn't able to go out without security.
After enjoying much success as a singer, with number one singles in Lebanon, Kurdistan and Holland, Dashni has turned towards humanitarian work.
She's established a charity Green Kids, opening libraries for refugee children with books donated by Dutch children.
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