My name is Ali and comes from Syria. I worked there as a journalist at various media companies. Among other things, the Albaath newspaper and the Syrian television and radio channel. I’m 34 years old.

We had a very good life in Syria, we had one of the safest countries in the world. There was no war there. We worked there and owned cars, houses and everything possible. The only thing we missed in Syria was democracy and freedom of expression. That was why we fled and chose Sweden. It was not an easy decision for me to leave Syria. The country means a lot to us. Beautiful and rich country. The war broke out in 2011 and it was a very difficult and dangerous situation for all Syria. Especially for journalists who work in the field or in reality.

It was dangerous to me because I was very busy in the streets as a journalist. I felt I had to leave. I lived in Damascus but it was not a 100 percent safe place. There were grenades and car bombs.

I took me through the Syrian and Turkish border, to Izmir. Then we took the bus to Marmaris, which is on the coast. By the coast I took a boat to Rhodes in Greece. We did not have a holiday there as Swedes do. Then we took a big boat from Rhodes to Athens. We stayed in Athens for 10 days. After 10 days we went to the airport and took the flight to Copenhagen and then Malmo. The smugglers had helped us, but I do not want to say helped us because they have not done because we have paid them. We put our lives in the hands of the criminal. But there was no other choice. I was afraid that the smugglers would take all I had or kill me. It was very dangerous in Turkey and Greece because there were border policemen.

I am doing very well in Sweden, I have managed to establish myself quickly, you can call it startup. I am currently working as a communicator. The most important thing for me is freedom of speech, democracy and human rights. I enjoy this democracy. I run a platform for dialogue and communication, to improve integration. The platform is called news cafe. It has spread in Skåne and received great attention. I am incredibly pleased with my ambition and driven, I had it in Syria and it still has here in Sweden as well.

Svenska: Jag heter Ali och kommer från Syrien. Jag arbetade där som journalist på olika mediaföretag. Bland annat Albaath tidning och den syriska tv och radiokanalen. Jag är 34 år gammal.

Vi hade ett mycket bra liv i Syrien, vi hade ett av de säkraste länderna i världen. Det fanns inget krig där. Vi arbetade där och ägde bilar, hus och allt möjligt. Det enda som vi saknade i Syrien var demokrati och yttrandefrihet. Det var skälet varför vi flydde och valde just Sverige. Det var inget lätt beslut för mig att lämna Syrien. Landet betyder mycket för oss. Vacker och rikt land. Kriget utbröt 2011 och det var en mycket svår och farlig situation för alla syrier. Särskilt för journalister som jobbar på fältet eller i verkligheten.

Det var farligt för mig för jag rörde mig mycket på gator som journalist. Jag kände på mig att jag måste lämna. Jag bodde i Damaskus men det var inte en 100 procentig säker plats. Det fanns granater och bilbomber.

Jag tog mig genom den syriska och turkiska gränsen, till Izmir. Sedan tog vi bussen till Marmaris, som ligger på kusten. Vid kusten tog jag en båt över till Rhodos i Grekland. Vi hade inte semester där som svenskar gör. Sedan tog vi en stor båt från Rhodos till Aten. Vi stannade i Aten i 10 dagar. Efter 10 dagar åkte vi till flygplatsen och tog flyget till Köpenhamn och sedan Malmö. Smugglarna hade hjälpt oss, men jag vill inte säga hjälpt oss för det har de inte gjort, för att vi har betalat de. Vi la vårt liv i kriminellas händer. Men det fanns inget annat val. Jag var rädd att smugglarna skulle ta allt jag hade eller döda mig. Det var mycket farligt i Turkiet och Grekland för där fanns gränspoliser.

Jag trivs mycket bra i Sverige, jag har lyckats etablera mig fort, man kan kalla det rivstart. Jag jobbar just nu som kommunikatör. Det viktigaste för mig är yttrandefrihet, demokrati och mänskliga rättigheter. Jag njuter av den här demokratin. Jag driver en plattform för dialog och kommunikation, för att förbättra integrationen. Plattformen heter nyhetscafé. Det har spridit sig i Skåne och fått stor uppmärksamhet. Jag är otroligt nöjd över min ambition och drivet, det hade jag i Syrien och det har fortsatt här i Sverige också.

A Million Stories Sweden: Nizar Keblawi, Nina Olsson, Sara Sarabi, Malin Gillberg, Daniel Björklund, Mats Nordström.

A Million Stories Sweden volunteers: Fariborz Ghadir, Mohamad Mohsin, Yazan Saad, Tarek Aloudallah, Dalia Saleem, Yara Ali, Ahmad Younes, Chaimae Hamri.

In association with

My name is Hakam and I am from Hamaa in Syria. I left Syria in early 2012 hoping to do something in Tunisia, but unfortunately, I did not manage to find work in Tunisia because their rules are difficult and life was tough.

I then tried to get a visa to fly legally to Europe. I visited different embassies but everyone denied me because I was from Syria. After 1.5 years in Tunisia, I began to look for illegal ways to flee. My plan was to flee from Libya to Europe.

The smuggler had a boat and the flight would happen the same day from Tunisia to Zwara in Libya which is a place of escape. The smuggler told me I should instead flee directly to Lampedusa. I told him it does not matter and then he told us: we are going tonight. The plan was that I was going to a house near the beach, but as I was in a wheelchair, the tactics changed. They would instead create a noise at the beach and then they would take me straight into the boat so nobody noticed it. I had to crawl up to the boat and then they helped me into dinghy. We did not go in a boat or yacht. We went for 7-8 hours at sea. It felt like there was a mountain under the ocean. We knew it was an area where everyone fished. We were an hour away from the regional sea.

One of the fishermen told the smuggler who drove the dinghy to not continue because there was a hurricane on the way. We continued anyway. I asked the smuggler if it was the two clouds that they were afraid of and that only two clouds will not create a hurricane. The smuggler replied that this is not a cloud, but it’s the hurricane that is coming and he prayed to God to protect us. To me it looked like clouds, but apparently it was a hurricane.

I noticed that the smuggler was scared and nervous. I did not feel the same because I went through much more during the Assad regime, it was almost like a vacation compared to what I saw in Syria. After 15 minutes, however, it started blowing heavily and I was terrified. But I want to thank God that we made it. The hurricane continued for two hours but what calmed down was that 4 dolphins swam beside our dinghy until the hurricane disappeared. Then we arrived at Lampedusa island. The whole trip took us 8-9 hours, but it felt like 24 or 48 hours. They noticed both my and my wife’s health situations and decided to take us to Crotone in Italy. We then went bus and train to Milan. I called some friends who helped us along the way. We arrived at 10 am in the morning.

The Red Cross asked us to wait at the central station until 6 o’clock in the evening and they would send a car there. I told them taht I was in a wheelchair and they then told us that they would send a taxi there. My friend, who lives in Budapest, called and said that he would come down to Milan and pick me up. I told him I would get myself to a city called Trieste, located on the border between Italy and Slovenia. We then went to Budapest and stayed there for three days. After that we went to Malmö via Berlin and Hamburg.

Svenska: Jag heter Hakam, kommer från Hamaa  i Syrien. Jag lämnade Syrien i början av 2012 i hopp om att kunna göra något i Tunisien, men tyvärr lyckades jag inte hitta arbete i Tunisien eftersom deras regler är svåra och livet var tufft.

Jag försökte sedan skaffa visum för att kunna fly till Europa på ett lagligt sätt. Jag besökte olika ambassader men alla nekade mig eftersom jag var från Syrien.  Efter 1,5 år i Tunisien började jag leta efter olagliga sätt att fly. Min plan var att fly från Libyen till Europa. Smugglaren hade en båt och flykten skulle ske samma dag från Tunisien till Zwara i Libyen som är en plats för flykt. Smugglaren sa till mig att jag istället borde fly direkt till Lampedusa.

Jag sa till honom det spelar ingen roll och då sa han vi åker ikväll.  Planen var att jag skulle åka till ett hus nära stranden, men eftersom jag sitter i en rullstol ändrades taktiken. De skulle istället skapa ett bråk vid stranden och sedan skulle de ta in mig direkt in i båten så att ingen märker av det. Jag fick krypa fram till båten och sedan hjälpte de mig upp i gummibåten. Vi åkte inte i en båt eller yacht.

Vi åkte i 7-8 timmar ute på havet. Det kändes som att det var ett berg under havet. Sedan visste vi att det var ett område där alla fiskade. Vi var en timme ifrån det regionala havet.  En av fiskarna sa till smugglaren som körde gummibåten att inte fortsätta eftersom det var en orkan på väg. Vi fortsatte ändå.

Jag frågade smugglaren om det var de två molnen som de var rädda för och att endast två moln kommer inte skapa en orkan. Smugglaren svarade mig att det här inte är moln utan det är orkanen som kommer och bad till gud att skydda oss. För mig såg det ut som moln, men tydligen var det orkanen.

Jag märkte att smugglaren var rädd och nervös. Jag kände inte av det för jag hade gått igenom mycket mer under Assadregimen, det var nästan som en semester jämfört med det jag såg i Syrien. Efter 15 minuter började det dock blåsa kraftigt och jag blev livrädd. Men jag vill tacka gud att vi klarade oss.

Orkanen fortsatte under två timmar men det som lugnade ner mig var att 4 delfiner simmade bredvid vår gummibåt tills orkanen försvann. Sedan kom vi fram till ön Lampedusa. Hela resan tog oss 8–9 timmar, men det kändes som 24 eller 48 timmar. De såg både min och min frus hälsosituation och bestämde sig för att ta oss till Crotone i Italien. Sedan åkte vi buss och tåg till Milano. Jag ringde några vänner som hjälpte oss på vägen. Vi kom fram kl 10 på morgonen.

Röda korset bad oss vänta på Centralstationen till kl 6 på kvällen och att de skulle skicka en bil dit. Jag berättade att jag satt i en rullstol och då sa de att vi skulle ta taxi dit. Sedan ringde min vän som bor i Budapest och sade att han skulle komma till Milano och hämta mig.  Jag sa till honom att jag skulle ta mig själv till en stad som heter Trieste, som ligger på gränsen mellan Italien och Slovenien. Därefter åkte vi till Budapest och var där i tre dagar.  Vi tog oss sedan till Malmö via Berlin och Hamburg.

A Million Stories Sweden: Nizar Keblawi, Nina Olsson, Sara Sarabi, Malin Gillberg, Daniel Björklund, Mats Nordström.

A Million Stories Sweden volunteers: Fariborz Ghadir, Mohamad Mohsin, Yazan Saad, Tarek Aloudallah, Dalia Saleem, Yara Ali, Ahmad Younes, Chaimae Hamri.

In association with

Mohamad Khaled Nabaa is 20 years old and he came from Aleppo, Syria. Mohamad and his family have been in Greece for one and a half year. He is sharing his story in English. His dream is to study and become a lawyer so to be able to help other refugees in need.

Storyteller’s name: Mohamad Khaled Nabaa
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Syria
Sex: M
Age: 20

I am Fateme Hussain Zade. I am from Herat, Afghanistan. I was nine years old when we left Afghanistan and came to Iran. I was married to an Iranian man and God gave me five children. At first, Iran was a very good place to stay but then, they did not keep my children at the school. They told us “You must go back to your country or stay in the camp”. In my country, the war was going on, they were fighting and they did not allow us to work legally.
So, we had to go to the camp where my children could study there. I am illiterate and this causes me distress. My children are literate for their own future and life. The camp we went to was out of the city and when we went there, we had too many problems. When we wanted to go to the Pazar or to the city, we should have our documents with us. In the hot days, we had to stay under the sun and wait in the row to get the documents. They wrote down on a paper the exact place we were going to and they also mentioned the time of going and coming back. If we were coming a little bit later, they used to close the front door and say to us “Go back to where you were at”. We did not like this situation.
Regarding the education, the teacher had not the knowledge to give lessons to the students. In Iran we wanted our children to study but we had to pay for their everyday lessons. The lessons in the camp were very different from the lessons in the city, where we used to pay.
If my husband or my son wanted to work, they had to do very difficult jobs. In Iran, we did not have the right to own a shop, to ride a bike or even to have a SIM card. A year later, when my grandson was born, my son’s wife gave birth by caesarean section but after that, she had some health problems…her skin was very sensitive. When we wanted to get her to her own doctor, they did not accept that and they said to us that we had to get her to the doctor in the camp. But, the doctor in the camp was just a medical practitioner. For her we were like ‘mice experiment’ and they were paying her for that.
One of my daughters is very fond of mathematics and we had to pay for her to attend some lessons. They said that she had to take a test in order to see her level and then they gave her a degree. She was very happy when we paid for the test. But then, they said to us that because we are Afghans, my daughter will not take the test and that we had to go back. My daughter was very sad and depressed about that.
In the camp, everything was bad and everyone, including my family, was in depression. Our house had very low walls. We were not safe there and we did not have any choice. “Either we will die here or we will leave” and we decided to leave. We can continue living here (in Iran) or go to Afghanistan and die due to the war or we can go to Europe. So, we came to Greece and we are thankful to all. Everything is very good here. The government has helped us so much, thank you. In the morning, I go outside with a happy face and I know that I am safe in Greece.
I am involved in my flowers now. I have two young grandchildren. Their parents send them to school and in the afternoon, I take care of them. My other children go to school as well. I prepare the food and I clean the house. I do this every day.

Storyteller’s name: Fatime Hussain Zade
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Afghanistan
Sex: F
Age: 47

My name is Hussain Mohammadi, my father’s name is Mohammed. I am from Afghanistan, I was born in Behsud. I lived for 35-36 years in Iran and I was married in Iran.
We had many problems in Iran. We did not have freedom in Iran. We could not work either could buy any products in stores. We could not work as sellers in the street markets. We could only work on difficult jobs, such as builders in constructions, bakers and this kind of jobs. We used to work in these jobs.
In 2008, when my daughter went to school, the school director said: “We cannot accept her because your family is from Afghanistan”. That made us feel very sad and we wanted to go back to Afghanistan, but our relatives from Afghanistan stressed that the situation in Afghanistan is very dangerous, because of the war. Afghanistan was worse than Iran, people could not work because of the war. We were afraid of the war and so we stayed in Iran.
Iranians pushed us to go to the Camp ‘Ardughah’ (Afghan Refugee Camp, Saveh) they said that if you want your children to study, go to the Camp. If you do not want, you have to go back to Afghanistan. I have five children, who have to go to school, so we went to the Camp. We lived in the Camp for five years. My children had one teacher for the primary school and one for high school. Even there, we could not work, neither we could go outside the Camp. If we wanted to work outside the camp most of the people were harassing us and speaking badly about the Afghans. The police officers were swearing and talking rudely to us.
Then one day, they checked our documents and they said that have expired and we must go to the police station. They arrested us and took our money. Then, they said “Go” and kept our money. This situation was happening every time. For instance, we could not buy a bicycle, a car or even a SIM card with our name. We had all these problems, we were not free. We could not even go from Ahvaz to Teheran. We had to wait in the row for 1-2 days to take the needed documents, they were doing everything difficult for us. We had to pay for these documents, that were legal only for 10 days.
We had been living in the Camp ‘Ardughah’ (Afghan Refugee Camp, Saveh) for five years and we did nothing.
In the Camp, we had a family whose daughter had to go to the university, but she was not allowed to. Our daughter had to go to university after two years, as well. When she heard the news from the other family she was very sad. She said “I tried to study with the crazy teacher and after all I got through… I cannot go to the university? What can I do, why I tried, why I studied?” Me and my wife were very sad and angry. Thus, we took the decision to leave for Europe…

We were in Ahvaz and we went to Teheran. Then, we went to the borders where we stayed for one day and one night. From there we went to Turkey, in Istanbul, and we stayed there for 22 days. Later, we tried to come to Greece from the borders but the police caught us and they sent us back (in Istanbul). We tried again to come to Greece, but our van turned over. We were almost 50 people inside the van. My daughter hit her head and other people had their arms broken/hit. After our fifth attempt, we finally came to Greece by boat. We were lucky and some people from the Greek side came with a big ship and saved us.
They took us to Lesvos island, once more we had nothing. People there gave us clothes to wear. “Thank you for that help!” They kept us for five days, we got registered there and we took the tickets for Piraeus (port in Athens).
We stayed in Piraeus for two months. We were staying in a tend. In that place, we had food, clothes and help. However, after some time, the conditions were not any more good. We came here (in Greece) for a better future, not to be like that. We came here for a more peaceful life. Two months later, we came to Skaramagas Refugee Camp and here things were better. After three months, they gave us the documents to stay for one year and then they informed us for the interview in Piraeus. We went there and they told us to come back after six months for the second interview.
We were fine at the camp, but the situation had changed and we had some issues to deal with. The camp had not got people in charge of. Everyone was doing whatever they want. However, now we are very satisfied from the government of Greece and we are thankful. My children are being educated, they go to school. I have five children, four girls and one boy. Two of my daughters and my son are married. My son right now is in Iran and my daughters are studying and they can speak a little bit of Greek and English. In the Camp, they are giving us 140 euro per month. These are not enough but it is fine. We are still waiting for the ID card. “Peace be upon you”.

Storyteller’s name: Hussain Mohammadi
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Afghanistan
Sex: M
Age: 58

I am Bidaa from Iraq, I am a refugee in Greece. I have two children. One son and one daughter. My son is 10 years old and my daughter is 8 years old. Now I am living in Skaramagas camp (refugee center). I came from Iraq to Turkey. We stayed in Turkey about 10 – 15 days. Then, we crossed the sea to come in Greece. We stayed in Chios island for 7 days and afterward we came to Athens.
We went to some camps but they didn’t accept us because we were under no organization and none organization let us stay. We stayed in an apartment at an old hospital building. In that place the police ejected us out of the building and sent us to somewhere we didn’t know exactly where was it. This situation lasted for one day. The next day, they brought us to Skaramagas camp and is almost 10 months now that we are living in the camp.
My profession was a tailor. Here in the camp, I have friends who visit me every day. I am happy that my children are going to school. Their school is inside the camp. We are waiting with our hope on God. We don’t know what will happen with our documents and for how long we have to wait.

Storyteller’s name: Bidaa
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Syria
Sex: F
Age: 30

I am Basher. I am 35 years old and I am from Iraq. I got arrested and they tortured me, all kinds of torture. In my city, in Iraq, I worked as a truck driver. I will tell you my story from when the previous system got down (Saddam Hussein system) until now.
In Iraq, people were warriors in militia, Iranian militia. I have been tortured many times and they led me to a secret prison. The first time that I was tortured was when they took me from my place to an unknown place and all this torture lasted for one month. Then, I came back to my normal life. Two months later, they took me again for fifteen days. One more time, they tortured me with all kinds of torture. They forced me to join them. They said to me: “If you don’t join us, we will torture you again”. They forced me to join them but I didn’t accept it. I cannot kill anyone! They continued to torture me from 2006 to 2008, for three years in a row. They caught me for one to three months and they tortured me all over again.
After a while, I started driving again my truck in Samarra city. In that city, they had special forces and they were asking me, everyday, where I am going and where I am from. I told them that I am from the Salah ad Din and I also told them that it is none of their business. Then, they took me again. They blindfolded me and they punished me. Also, they tortured me and they spoke rudely for my family. After that, they took me to an old building and I had my eyes covered for one more day. They took me into a small room and they wrote something in the wall. Every day they punished and tortured me for eight hours. Sometimes they tied my hands to the ceiling and they let me like this all night long. They continued this for fifteen days and they asked me again if I wanted to join them after all this torture. But I didn’t accept it. I don’t kill other people. I told them: “I am a person, I have my life and I have my family. I cannot join you”. They kept me for another fifteen days. After that, they let me free but they told me that if I want to be alive and work, I had to join a military group. “Be killer or you will be dead”.
At midnight, a car full of bombs and rockets came and after a while the bombs exploded. My uncles’ children and women were dead. They did that thrice. I was sure that they were iranian military people. They forced young men to join them and until now, no one knows where they are. My brother and my cousins have disappeared and another two hundred people are killed or disappeared. Αnyone in Iraq should join one of this organisations or else they are done. From 2007 to 2012, the military organisations had bombs, rockets and the terrorists used to take groups of twenty men beside them.
Many times, while I was going to sleep, I was thinking that I may wake up in prison or dead. Also, many people in Iraq had the same thoughts. I have some psychological issues now due to all these.
When the ISIS came…I went to Baghdad. The ISIS in Baghdad took people again. Then I moved to Doura. They took me again and I asked them who they are but they told me that it’s none of my business and that I cannot ask them. They took me, with my eyes covered, to a place about 15 km further where the boss of ISIS was. When we went there, they told me: “You are a muslim and you are in Baghdad”. They forced me to pay every month for my protection. When I was in Iraq, Ι could not be quiet because when I saw something wrong , I used to say that it is wrong. They hit me with a gun and they told me that if I don’t pay 6000 dollars, they would not let me go. I told them that I did not have the money and they told me that I had some days to find the money. Then, they said to me that some men will come to take the money. They left me at the street and I went to my family. I told my family that I cannot stay anymore in Baghdad and that I had to go to Kirkuk. In Kirkuk, they have many different religions and languages. I stayed there for three months. When I went there, the authorities asked me for an ID card so as to be able to live in Kirkuk. I wanted the help of a citizen who lived in Kirkuk or Ι had to give 1000 dollars to the authorities in order to give me the needed documents. They didn’t accept someone who is not a citizen of Kirkuk to work there. I started thinking about my travel because both my brothers are in Germany now.
For one more time someone tried to kill me and I ran away. If I return in Iraq after years, I will recognise him. I remember him because he is a known member of a military group that kills people.
I went to Turkey alone, because neither my family had money to give me so as to get a passport nor I had it. I was in Turkey for seven days when my family had to come in Turkey. They came with the help of a smuggler. They came by car and a lot of walking. I tried seven times to go from Turkey to Greece by car. However, the special forces always caught me and sent me back. The turkish police does not know anything about human rights. They took my phone and my money. After seven times that I tried to leave Turkey, I went back to Istanbul and tried to go to Greece by boat five times. They caught me again, they stole everything that I had and I talked to them rudely.
After all, I arrived in Greece and I cannot believe that I am here…I was shocked. My condition is fine now and I feel protected.

Storyteller’s name: Basher
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Iraq
Sex: M
Age: 35

My name is Munir Nabaa. I came from Syria, the Aleppo city. I am 45 years old.
We were living in Aleppo, but when the problems started we left Aleppo and went to Idlib. We lived there for a short time. We didn’t have work because of the crisis. So we went to Turkey. We lived there for one year and we didn’t have money to pay the rent. We didn’t have any money.
So, we decided to come in Greece by boat with the help of smugglers. We didn’t have the money to come all the family together, so I sent first my youngest son and thus he came here (in Greece). He had an uncle (in Crete) and he lived with him. Later I came to Greece (in Crete) with my wife. Our other son was still back in Turkey because I didn’t have the money to take him with me. (In Crete) I worked with my brother-in-law, but I didn’t have any documents and then I came to Athens to do my documents. (In Crete) we worked to send money to our son in Turkey, so him to be with us here in Greece.
My son came to Greece in 2016. After March 2016 they closed the borders. When he came, they gave him the first ‘Rejection’ for the documents. Later, they gave him a second ‘Rejection’ and they didn’t let him to stay in Greece. So, he found one person on the island (Chios) to bring him in Athens.
Now, we live all together here in the camp (Refugee center in Skaramagas), and they give us 90 euro every month. It’s not too much and isn’t enough to do anything. Because of this situation, we had the thought to make a restaurant here near the sea so to have something to do and to get some money. We opened a restaurant first and everything went well. People who were working on the camp’s organizations and people from the camp were coming to eat in the restaurant. But later, I didn’t have many customers, as many people from the camp and from the organizations had left from Skaramagas, thus I decided to close the restaurant.
My job back in Syria was as a tailor. I started again sewing here in the camp to have some money. I bought a small sewing machine to work, and I also go for fishing sometimes in the sea.
When I came to Greece the borders were open. I didn’t leave Greece. I stayed here to wait for my son. When he came here (in Greece), they gave him two ‘Rejections’. They didn’t allow him to be in the same case with us (all family). That was our problem. In the beginning, we had this issue with my son’s documents, but now everything it’s getting better.

Storyteller’s name: Munir Nabaa
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Syria
Sex: M
Age: 45

I am a refugee from Syria. I am Aziza Tlas, I was born in 1970, I came from the city of Raqqa. I came to Europe for my children. I have two sons, who are living in Malta. They paid all the money for my journey from Syria to Europe.
We have suffered a lot from Syria to Turkey because of the smugglers. It was difficult for us, especially in the sea. From the beginning until now we have the same problems. In Syria, in Turkey, here in Greece. It’s very difficult for us.
The smugglers tried many times to pass the sea from Turkey to Greece. The police caught us three times. When they caught us, we slept in a tent and after that in a caravan.
Now I am very sick and I am waiting for the documents. I thank god that we are still alive. Now we are living in Athens. We took the IDs and we are waiting for the passports, but it is very difficult. I need the passport to go to Malta and see my sons before I die. In Greece we have nothing, we can’t stay here. No job and the money (just 150 euro), it is nothing for one month. No passport… I haven’t seen my sons for three years. God willing I will see my sons, my children.

Storyteller’s name: Aziza Tlas
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Syria
Sex: F
Age: 47

I am Daneesh Mohameed Shakeer. I am from Qamishli (Al-Hasakah). I had reasons that I came to Europe. Back home, in Syria, there was injustice everywhere. The Kurds and the Syrians have issues, the Kurds want to be independent. When the war started I fled Syria and I went to Turkey. We arrived in Turkey with my family, but we had nothing. Our children couldn’t go to school, we didn’t have a job or money. Nothing at all, and I didn’t like it.

Thus, we decided to come in Europe. In 2016, we came in Greece and the borders were closed. For 5 months we lived in a tent, we were tormented from this situation. Then, we came to Skaramagas camp and we were waiting for the borders to be opened. I added my name to the resettled program to asylum and I got a refusal from Estonia. What can I do… I don’t know. Injustice in Syria, injustice also in Greece. Moreover, we had the problem that our children couldn’t go to school.

I didn’t come to Europe for myself, I came for the family and my children. I have been in Greece for almost 2 years, after all that, what else can I do… In Greece there is nothing, I would like to go to Germany now. My brother and my two sisters are living there, I would really like it there. I don’t want to talk at length. Thank you so much!

Storyteller’s name: Daneesh Mohameed Shakeer
Interviewer’s name: Anxhela Dani
Country of origin: Syria
Sex: M
Age: 40