I only went to primary school in Bangladesh. Then via India to Turkey, where I lived for five months. I speak Turkish quite well.
I’ve seen many countries. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Turkey, five months in Istanbul, later to Greece for two weeks. The police found us by boat, they had a big boat with a powerful engine. We’ve been locked up. We had to wait. The police said I have to sign something to document where I want to go.
We were on a small plastic boat with 15 people. It was broken.
A lot of people have waited a month or two. A lot of people had to stay in prison. The police accepted my papers after 13 days. I came to Athens with some people. Then we decided to keep walking. Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria. All by foot. I’m in Germany now. lstanbul was quite ok, because l speak Turkish. But there was no solution, now I have come to Germany.
The trip to Europe is really stressful for many. There was a mafia in Istanbul. Because I had no money, I was beaten. God only gives you one head, one brain. It’s not a computer, it’s real. You can fix a laptop, not a head. I was beaten with a stick and cut in the hand. Religion doesn’t matter, everyone is equal before God. But the Mafia… has no religion. The European Union has now closed the route. I watch the news all the time, there’s no entry for refugees. You can see on the news that many people who come are not good.
I’m grateful to be here. I didn’t speak German well in the past, but now I spoke it a little better. I need to learn more.
I used to have a lot of problems in India. I don’t have parents today, spent three years in Bangladesh. My father had no money and came with me to Bangladesh. I have no qualifications. I speak English very well, but at the moment, when I speak German, I forget English. It’s like downloading a video in HD, it takes more memory.
The past is done. Right now – is now. I think I need to learn something, keep doing B1. I used to work in Calcutta for a car mechanic. I don’t like it because it’s not a clean job. I want to find a clean job. A kiosk is not possible because I have no qualifications. But I don’t even know for sure. Find an internship or a job. Finding an education is very, very difficult for me, because I have to learn German properly first. I don’t think I can do B1, because I have practically no school education, only know the alphabet. That’s not a real education.
But I don’t understand grammar. You wrote something on the laptop now, but I can’t do it. I’m 22 years old now. Six years in Bangladesh, 10 years in India, eight, nine months on the road. I’ve been in Germany for three years.
Storyteller’s name: Anonymous
Interviewer’s name: Sarah El Desoke and Sebastian Abresch
Country of origin: Bangladesch
Sex: m
Age: 22