I am Rustom and I am 19 years old. I am Kurdish from Aleppo-Afrin. Two years ago, I came to Greece with my parents and my three younger sisters.
From Turkey, we went to Chios, where we stayed for eleven months. I wanted to come to Athens, but I did not have my documents so I stayed there. In Chios, they refused to give us the needed documents, so we came in Athens, in Skaramagas camp. They took all of our documents and we had been given two more rejections. The last one was one month ago. That meant that we had to go back to Turkey within one month. The asylum application for all the members of the family got rejected and we do not know why.
We came here so we can have a better life. My parents wanted the best for me and my little sisters. They wanted us to be educated and to have a job. It has been a month now that we do not have the documents and we cannot get the monthly allowance. That’s why my father works in a restaurant in Skaramagas camp so that we can get by. Sometimes I help there too.
I came here when I was 17 years old. Two years now, I am doing nothing. I cannot go to school and I cannot work. I want to be a football player and I would like to stay in Greece. I also would not have a problem to stay in Turkey, but I am Kurdish and I cannot live there.
I only have one month left that I am allowed to stay here. I will be very thankful if someone hears this message and helps us.
Storyteller’s name: Rustom
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Syria
Sex: M
Age: 19