He was imprisoned for his political activism against the regime of Saddam Hussein, and took refuge in a number of countries before he was granted asylum in Germany, namely Berlin, in 2000, where he continues to live.

In addition to the monetary and institutional support, Khadir was awarded literary prizes and scholarships, which expanded his audience.

[3] In 2017, which was the same year he was nominated for the Mainzer Stadtschreiber literary award, Khadir completed two additional manuscripts, one of which was a humorous exploration of the German language, and the other a novel.

[3] During his high school years, Khadir got involved with unauthorized personnels, and engaged in political activities that opposed the regime of Saddam Hussein, who was the dictator of Iraq at the time.

In 1996, he fled to Jordan, and later moved to a number of Mediterranean countries, including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Turkey, Greece and Italy, in which he resided as an undocumented refugee and lived off temporary job posts.

In 2000, he was arrested upon his arrival to Germany by a Bavarian border police officer, and, as per the German asylum law in effect at the time, was prohibited from leaving the country.

His novels explored the gendered nature of power systems, the Kafkaesque dynamics of bureaucracy and the Gambian notion of the refugee as the ultimate biopolitical subject.

[7] Khadir cleverly used the Aubergine Republic to refer to Iraq at a time the eggplant was the most prevalent food item in the country.