Interview question: Please tell me about your life from the beginning until now.
Joudi Obeid: I had a normal family, and lived a very happy life before the war. I went to school with my sister and brother. I had a normal and happy life, there is no problem. When the war started, we escaped to Damascus, where we went to live in a separate house. We went to live in my grandmother’s house. My mother put us in my grandmother’s house. I was very sad, because my mother fled, but I lived with my grandmother. My cousin also lived there, and she was my very close friend.
We used to go to Latakia, on the seashore. They had very beautiful days there. Every year we used to go there, because in Damascus there is no sea. We travelled and had happy days there. We used to take the train there, where there was loud music, and everyone was very happy. We went swimming, attended parties and sunbathed.
After that, I went to Denmark. My mother could not get family reunification, so my father and brother and sister decided to flee. We travelled to Lebanon, and took a flight from Lebanon to Istanbul. After that we took a rubber boat across the Mediterranean. When we were between Turkey and Greece our boat sank. A lot of people died in the sea. After a while a fisherman found us and saved us, but a lot of people lost their lives. For ten days my mother didn’t know where we were. The fisherman found us in the Mediterranean so we survived. He put us in his boat, and sailed us to a small Turkish island, where we were put in prison for 10 days. We paid money to the police, so they let us go.
After that we fled again. It was a very unhappy journey. It’s like death journey! We reached Denmark, where they sent us to Roskilde refugee camp. They sent us to camp school. We waited for 1 year and 5 months to get permission to stay. I don’t know why it took so long for us to get permission. We had to stay in the refugee camp for a long time. Usually when the mother has permission to stay, they put the family together directly. They don’t ask for any interview. Because it’s stupid to ask why the children came. But they asked us for an interview.
I was not happy. It is not a happy life in the camp. It’s a boring life. There is nothing interesting. We could not leave the camp, because the cost transportation is very expensive. We only get 3000 Kr a month, so we don’t have any money to go, to pay for transportation. Also there is not many people outside to talk to. There is only mosquito (laughter). Usually in Syria, if you look outside, there is a lot of people that communicate with each other. He we are isolated and alone. Also the transportation time is very difficult, because I wait one hour for the bus to go to school.
Enough.
Dublin Core: Language: da Subject: interview, syrian refugee