Abdulhai is a refugee in Greece. He shared his story for the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union ‘A Million Stories’. He talked about his life in Afghanistan, his journey since he fled Afghanistan. His everyday life in Greece and his voluntary work in the refugee centre of Ellinikos.

My name is Bahman, 18, from Afghanistan. I had a lot of trouble in Afghanistan because there was war in my country. I did not go to school. When we were sleeping then attacked on doors, then children and women came crying. People were injured then. It was difficult because I would love to move to somewhere and live my life. I felt bad because I came here.

Through the Pakistani mountains I went about 10 days. We were 100. Everyone was thinking about himself. Because we walked far through the mountains, the shoes broke and it blew under our feet. We went through an area between Turkey and Iran called Sarvan. There the whole area was mountainous and very loud. It was a family that had four children to bring. For those with four children it was even more difficult to go to the mountains to Turkey.

They did not manage to leave their one-year-old child between two large rocks. I could not help them because I already had one of their children with me. I had difficulty believing that they could really leave their child between the two rocks in order to move on. They had to move on otherwise they would not leave their children. We all were forced flight from death. When I saw the child lying there only the tears ran. It is still so when I think of the child I get a lump in my throat and think about it. What happened to it, it was only a year old child. Then we went 27 days on the border between Iran and Turkey. We got into Turkey anyway. Afterwards we got to get on a truck. We were many in the car and they had covered the truck with a plastic tarpaulin so nobody could see us. We arrived at the border between Turkey and Greece. There we were allowed to take a plastic boat. We were 45. 20 of us were children and family. It was at. four in the morning. It blew a lot because it was on the boat. The boat swung. Then we moved everyone here and there. I thought that we all died a hundred percent. It’s hard to sit in a plastic boat in the middle of the ocean. I’m still scared when I tell you. At halfway, we noticed that the boat was broken. Me and my mate saw that the boat broke down, then I told him to be quiet otherwise the children and family had to be afraid. I asked him to keep it handy, but it did not work. At first it was small but then it became bigger and bigger. Then all children and family noticed everyone began to cry.

There were two children who yelled and told their parents that they were afraid and wanted the parents to help them. It broke down when we were allowed to swim in the water. I myself had to drink a kilo of water. Either the head or leg was bent down into the water. When the head was in the water then felt uncomfortable and thought I was gone. I thought it was last minute I breathed. You must experience this in order to understand. We were 15-16 minutes in the water and just had to touch our hands. The wave movements moved us upside down. That’s when I realized that the two children who needed help disappeared. There was nothing heard, it was completely dark. You did not see anything. Then we saw that a big long distance boat came against us. I do not know how they were told we needed help. They shouted that we would calm down. They came to help us. That boat was from Greece. They carry us to the boat. There they wondered the two children of their children where their children took the road. After five minutes the two dives jumped into the water and searched for the children but they found none. Their parents fainted by the horrible news. They had difficulty believing what happened. They thought it was meaningless to arrive at Europe without their children.

We got a lot of water in the stomach, when they thought of the stomach, about a kilo of water came from the stomach. It tasted salty. When the head was in the water it hurt the head and got water in the throat. It felt very strange. We did not recognize our own effects other friends. We were completely confused and laughed so much that only the skin and legs were left by us.
We arrived at Budapest’s capital to Hungary then we took the train towards Austria. There people took us in a very nice way. We got bread, water. It felt like we ended up in a completely different world. When we arrived in Austria we thought it was a dream it was incredible. Women, men and children arrived to receive refugees. You got everything you needed. Water, food, and clothes. I still have a pair of shoes that I received. I thought that could not be true. It was just like a dream. Then we went to Germany. There people were very kind to us and everyone got food and everything else. From there we came to Denmark. We stayed there for 3 hours then got water and food and … Then we came to Sweden, to Malmö. Here people were very kind to me so I decided to seek asylum and stay here and live on.
I really enjoy it. Here is a nice country. I can study further. We can build the country together. When I came here, I could not write in my language either. I could not read. I started from zero. Now I can write and talk dari. I can also write and speak in Swedish. I have practice and studied a lot.

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 Kamar and I come from Aleppo in Syria.

I lived in Aleppo for 17 years. I graduated from high school and then moved to Sweida, a city in southern Syria, because I was admitted to the university with a focus on decoration.

When I had finished my second year, my mother decided that we could flee from Syria. This because of the war or rather the revolution. My mother and dad decided we should go to Sweden. I called my mom one day and talked to her as I usually do, but all of a sudden she told me that they would sell the house. Then I understood that they were serious.

My siblings moved to me in Sweida. First my mother fled in December 2012. She fled across the ocean, with the help of a smuggler,. We are five children and I am the oldest. Everyone moved to me and I became a mother, sister, student, teacher and everything. My dad also moved, but it took a bit longer before he had moved all the furniture and sold the house. Then my mother got a residence permit in Sweden and decided to reunite the family. She sent a request to the Migration Board.

Actually, I did’nt want to leave my studies. I was on my last year and hade the possiblility to work in decoration, as I wanted. But I had to leave everything, I had no choice. The police came to my university, I was persecuted and they interrogated me several times. I had no choice to stay in Sweida and my parents had left. I had to leave the country.

We arrived in Turkey. We were interviewed at Ankara embassy after 1.5 years. After the interview, I was not approved because I was over 18 years old. Then my father and siblings traveled to Sweden. I took them to the airport and took good care of the family.

I stayed in Turkey for 1.5 years without being able to return, leave the country, study or work. I did not know what to do. After 1,5 years I called to Mom and told her to either fly on or I will return to Syria. I told her it did’nt matter what happened, I wanted to return to my studies, my classmates continue with my studies. Mom said I had to wait a little bit for her to send me some money, so I could go to Sweden.

Mom did’nt want me to travel through the ocean with a rubber boat. She herself had tried to travel through the sea five times. One of the times she and my brother Rami were almost drowning. After that she decided not to risk her son and sent him back to me in Sweida. Then she succeded.

I told my mother to take a regular boat from port to port. But I lied. Instead I went to Izmir and got in touch with a smuggler. I paid half of the sum it would have cost for a regular boat.

The rubber boat was three meters long and we were 25 people. The smugglers told us to throw away all our bags. But I didn’t want to, because my mom bought the bag for me during high school. The boat went out to sea and then it took in water. After a while the water reached the stomach. Then the rubber boat stopped and we started to drain the water with our hands and shoes. The boat stopped three times along the way.

One of the people in the boat had tried to flee five times. Suddenly he saw a light and shouted: police! The boat rolled over and everyone ended up in the ocean. Then my feelings came all over me. How could I not have told my mother? Imagine if I die now! I prayed to God: please don’t let me die! I have lied to mom. Last I talked to her every day before. I told you I was going tomorrow but the battery was over. After three hours in the ocean, the light approached and it turns out to be a fishing boat. They picked us up. We were lucky we were in the Greek part of the sea and not in the Turkish. The Greek ships came and picked us up.

When I came to Sweden, I started with SFI. In February, I had an interview with the Migration Board. In May, I got a residence permit. In Mars I had an exhibition and started learning the language. Then I was adopted at the Österlen Art School for Art and Design in Simrishamn. I graduated in two years.

I learned a lot during the education and developed my Swedish. I gained many new contacts and it helped me to choose the right way in the new country. During these two years I worked in a retirement home. School time was from 9-16 and then I worked from kl. 16-22 and weekends with people with Alzheimer’s. I learned to play the cello. Then I continued with Swedish at a distance course. I finished with Swedish 1 but not with the rest.

I finished my education and wanted to go to a university, but I still had Swedish and English left. So instead I searched for Malmö University of Applied Sciences. I studied “content producer”. I started last year and graduated on November 25th. As I am ambitious I found a course called “content manager”. I did’ nt want to lose that course as it complements my education. So I started studying two courses at the same time. I worked at the MAFF Malmö Arab Film Festival at the same time and I worked with them again this year. I also practiced in two departments on SVT, the children’s channel with a program called summer holidays, as a graphic assistant and on SVT design. Yes, things are happening!

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 Muayad. I am 24 years old and come from Syria. I have been here in Sweden for two years and three months. I had to move from my home country because of the war. I was a student in my home country and studied at university as a technician of engineering. I ended my studies because of the war. I was a person who worked and studied at the same time.

My life was very good before the war. Here in Sweden I live like all other people. Right now I have received a residence permit, Id card and I can do what I want, I have a social security number. When I came to Sweden, I thought I had to learn the language. I knew that the key to the new country is the language. Therefore, I wanted to learn the language as quickly as possible. I received my last interview 5.5 months ago with the Migration Board.

I could speak a little Swedish but I was glad I could speak after 5.5 months.. I could not do much but that was good. The Migration Board told me it was very good that you could speak Swedish after 5.5 months. After 1 year and 3 months, I was shocked because I had a temporary residence permit.

When I came to Sweden there was a law saying that anyone who leaves fingerprints here will get a permanent residence permit. I left fingerprints because I found out that you can get permanent, that’s why I came to Sweden. I wanted to come to Sweden. In June 2016, the rule changed to temporary residence permit. I will not give up.

I told myself that I must continue to fight. I started with the employment office on November 15, 2016. Then I started studying SFI in October. I got ready after 4 months. After this I tried to study basic Swedish. I waited 5 months to get a place. I took place on September 11th and continued to study fundamentally. I also tried a lot to get a job. In July, I got a job at McDonalds. After 3 months, I received a monthly employee and soon I became a supervisor at McDonalds. I have also received first-hand apartment.

I have almost done everything. But last month, September 12, I had a meeting with the Migration Board. This because I had applied for a change regarding my residence permit. When I went there for an interview, I took all the paper with me. I talked to the migration and showed him that I have an apartment, insurance, I work, ready with SFI and I study basic SFI. I did my interview without interpreter, I spoke Swedish. I showed him a paper that I have attended a social class. It was 100 percent. That was all I had done from December to July. After all, he told me I can not give you permanent residence. He said I know you’re working with you have no permanent employment. Then I asked him, can you get permanent employment in Sweden from first job? He answers me “no”. How do you want me to get you permanent employment from your first job? The first job must be a probationary job and maybe support from employment services, and maybe you can get permanent employment. He told me I understand this and I’m impressed but I can not help you. I felt there was injustice. I know there is a new team at the Migration Board, but they have to think that they try to do everything and fight. Then you do not get what you hoped for. Then you do not have the same energy as before.

But I will continue more and more. I spoke with my manager yesterday and told her that I need permanent employment to get a permanent residence permit and stay here in Sweden.

I miss my family first. My family is most important in my life. I moved from Syria because of the war, if I had stayed in Syria, the regime would have forced me to make the military. I do not want to kill people. I live alone here in Sweden. No one asks me if I get sick. If I get hungry, nobody asks me if I want food or not. If I am cold or hot, nobody will ask for me. If I get a problem in my home country, I can look right or left and find my brothers, my mom or dad standing by my side all the time.

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 Hiba, is 38, Palestinians and born in Syria. I originally come from Haifa. I came to Sweden in November 2013. At the moment I work as a French teacher.

I was born in Damascus. My mother is from the Yarmuk refugee settlement and my dad is from Aleppo. I lived in Aleppo until I became 4 years old. Then my parents got a scholarship and we traveled to Bulgaria. We lived there until I finished third grade. Then my parents got work in Algeria. We moved to the capital of Algeria. There I read the fourth, fifth and sixth grade and learned french. Then there was unrest in Algeria. The president was murdered and the military went out on the streets. Then we returned to Syria

I lived in Syria and studied seventh, eighth and ninth grade in Aleppo. I continued to study in Damascus. I studied french literature at the university. I also studied to become an interpreter. After my studies, I worked as a french teacher.

I had my home and my job. There was nothing that happened that meant I that I would have to leave home or my work. Although It was obvious that the job became tougher and that life became more difficult. But I worked in a large french company and we continued our work.

I was well off economically compared to others who encountered difficulties. The economy was not a problem, it was safety. It felt like there was not enough air in Syria and did not want to stay for a single day.

During that time, many people fled through Egypt. It was legal for us Palestinians who were born in Syria to go to Egypt. The goal was to flee with a boat from Egypt to Italy. I fled at first, but I met a person from Syria, that my family knew. He was going the same way, so we decided to flee together. I thought that we could just take the boat trip the next day. But It did’nt work that way. It was much worse. Our trip was delayed for several reasons. One day they blamed the policemen, another day there was a storm, another day the smuggler did’nt answer the phone. We were 10 days late.

Meanwhile I lived with an Egyptian family, where I felt more than welcome. Then the day came when I was going to flee futher away. At first we had to take small boats that would take us to bigger boats. They were fishing boats. On the way through the sea, the Egyptian boat police came from all directions. We saw a lot of lights from their boats and they jumped into our boat and arrested us. They took us back to an Egyptian military base and there we had to stay one night. Children began to cry and people were worried. We did’nt know what would happen to us. Then they took us to a prison called “Qarmoz”.

The prison is located a bit outside of Alexandria and is known to be a prison for drug dealers. We were shocked. People cried and everything we had paid to the smugglers had disappeared. What would happen? Our papers and passports had disappeared. You can’t imagine what a shock we had. They told us to book the trip. What are you waiting for, book and go home! You will not get a residence permit in Egypt!

I think everything had a meaning, because the same night we were going to flee over the ocean, there was another boat that dropped and many died. We might have drowned if we had not been taken by the police. It could have been really bad. I have learned this lesson during the trip:  it could have been a lot worse. One should be grateful.

After 18 days I came out of Qarmouz. I booked a trip to Turkey. I went through difficult situations, fatigue and I was imprisoned. I had no future in Turkey, so I decided to continue.

Smugglers are not nice people and not human. They screamed and hurried with us. They never told us where we were and where we would go. It was just to come along. They treated people as sheep. We told them that we are people that they should talk to us!

The second lesson I learned during the flight was to swich off. I am a person who pay too much attention to details. But you can feel bad if you pay too much attention to all the details around you. I tried to think of something else and not look at what was happening around me, because it was so scary. It felt like something bad would happen. I noticed that the smugglers were criminals. I thought about how we would be able to have room enough in the small rubber boat.
Many people looking at me because I was a woman and I fled alone.

So I swiched off and started looking at the beautiful night. Beautiful stars. We walked around in a beautiful nature.

I don’t know why, but the boat trip was not scary to me. It was dark and the engine in the boat worked. I noticed that we approached land. We were worried that Greek police would catch us and send us back. I’ve heard that some refugees have tryed to flee 10 times. I know of someone who eventually chose to swim over, but was taken. This was my first try and I am grateful that I succeeded.

The trip was much easier when I arrived in Athens. I lived with a family that I had known before. I contacted a smuggler. It was easy to find French paper for me. I could speak different languages and my appearance helped a lot. I then took the flight, landed in a country and then I arrived at Copenhagen. Then I took the train to my mother in Malmö. She had already got there before me.

After five months, I got a residence permit. After three months, I began to learn Swedish. After five months, I got an internship and started working. I’m happy with my life in Sweden.

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 Farhad from Afghanistan. I was born in Kabul. At Kabul University, I studied a technical education program. Then I worked as an interpreter with Americans at an office called LBG. I was an artist too.

The one who works with immigrants and especially with Americans certainly has problems. You are being threatened and attacked. Twice I was threatened and attacked. I wrote a song that was against Taliban. It is about all the Taliban’s do, its not have anything to do with Islam and religion. Everything is completely wrong. That’s why I was attacked twice. Then I had to leave the country. I left Afghanistan and went to Sweden.

I had difficulties on the trip when I flew from Kabul to Turkey. It was not that bad, but from Turkey to Greece it was really difficult. I was not alone. All people experienced almost the same difficulties as me. One floated between life and death. The train we got to go was not sure. We met on sea waves. It was difficult with young children and women. They kept crying and then I thought everyone should die. Many Hazarah were on the train. I cried and thought that we will all die and thought why should you be so hard. Then we arrived in Greece and eventually we ended up in Bulgaria. There the police struck us for no reason. We were not told why they hit refugees. We had a lot of trouble in Bulgaria. Then we decided to move on to Sweden. We hoped Sweden would be better than the other countries.

I like the Swedish people. They are nice and kind. The state and the Migration Board made a decision and rejected my application. They have no logical reasons to say no. They think I’ll move back either to Kabul or to any other country. I am really dissatisfied with the Migration Board’s decision but I am pleased with the people. Everyone helped me, everyone is nice. The Swedish Migration Board has no logical reason. They say I have to move back, but as I said, I sang and is a famous artist and my songs are all against the Taliban. I even worked for Americans in Kabul. Therefore, I can not go back to my country. The Swedish Migration Board says that they find no new reasons for changing the decision. Swedish authorities think they know better than me about Afghanistan. Swedish diplomats are in Afghanistan and hears news and get paid 30% more in salary than diplomats working in other countries. So everyone knows that Afghanistan is not a safe country. How can it be safe for me if so? If Afghanistan had been safe I would not have come here.
Nowadays I am busy with studies. I’m done with sfi and read on basic Swedish while I study music and sing in Persian, Dari, Pashto and Indian. At the music school I study music and my teachers have helped me a lot.
Clearly, missing my parents and siblings. You think of them all the time. But you can not do anything. You can either cry, complain or think about them. Nothing more.

Svenska: Mitt namn är Farhad från Afghanistan. Jag är född i Kabul. På Kabuls universitet studerade jag färdigt en utbildning i teknisk information. Sedan jobbade jag som tolk hos amerikaner på ett kontor S K. LBG. Jag var artist också och sjöng.

Den som jobbar med invandrare och särskilt med amerikaner får helt säkert problem. Man blir hotad och attackerad. Två gånger blev jag hotad och attackerad. Jag skrev en sång som var mot talibaner. Den handlar om att allt talibanerna gör har inte något att göra med islam och religion. Allt är helt fel. Därför attackerades jag två gånger. Då blev jag tvungen att lämna landet. Jag lämnade Afghanistan och åkte mot Sverige.

Jag fick svårigheter på resan när jag flög från Kabul till Turkiet. Det var inte så jobbigt men från Turkiet till Grekland var det verkligen svårt. Jag var inte ensam. Alla människor upplevde nästan samma svårigheter som jag. Man svävade mellan liv och död. Tåget vi fick åka på var inte säkert. Vi träffade på havsvågor. Det var svårt med små barn och kvinnor. De höll på och grät och då tänkte jag att alla skulle dö. Många Hazarah var med på tåget. Jag grät och tänkte att vi kommer alla att dö och tänkte varför skall man ha det så svårt. Sedan kom vi till Grekland och så småningom hamnade vi i Bulgarien. Där slog polisen oss utan något skäl. Vi fick inte veta varför de slog flyktingar. Vi hade väldigt jobbigt i Bulgarien. Sedan bestämde vi oss för att åka vidare mot Sverige. Vi hoppades att Sverige skulle vara bättre än de andra länderna.

Jag trivs med det svenska folket. De är trevliga och snälla. Staten och migrationsverket tog beslut och avslog min ansökan. De har inga logiska skäl för att säga nej. De tycker att jag skall flytta tillbaka antingen till Kabul eller till något annat land. Jag är verkligen missnöjd med Migrationsverkets beslut men jag är belåten med folket. Alla hjälpte mig, alla är trevliga. Migrationsverket har inget logiskt skäl. De säger att jag måste flytta tillbaka, men som sagt jag sjöng och är en känd artist och mina låter är alla mot talibanerna. Jag arbetade till och med för amerikaner i Kabul. Därför kan jag inte åka tillbaka till mitt land. Migrationsverket säger att de hittar inga nya skäl för att ändra beslutet. Svenska myndigheter ser bättre än jag situationen i Afghanistan. De lyssnar på nyheter varje dag, svenska diplomater är i Afghanistan. Man hör på nyheter att svenska diplomater i Afghanistan får betalt 30% mer i lön än diplomater som jobbar i andra länder. Så alla vet att Afghanistan inte är ett säkert land. Hur kan det vara säkert för mig i så fall? Om Afghanistan hade varit säkert hade jag inte kommit hit.

Numera är jag upptagen med studier. Jag är klar med sfi och läser på grundläggande svenska medan jag läser musik och sjunger på persiska, dari, pashto och indiska. På musikhögskolan studerar jag musik och mina lärare har hjälpt mig mycket.

Så klart att man längtar efter sina föräldrar och syskon. Man tänker på dem jämt. Men man kan inte göra något. Man får antingen bara gråta, klaga eller tänka på dem. Inget mer.

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 Bahaa and I come from the city of Najaf in Iraq. I was born in 1993.

I arrived in Sweden in October 2015 and fled from Iraq in August the same year. I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters. In Iraq, I was an activist for human rights an also on social media. This was beside my work at a library where we sold school materials.

It was very difficult for me to leave Iraq and my family, as we are a family that spend so much time together. It is difficult if someone leaves. I made the decision to leave Iraq on June 2nd.
I prepared everything and booked flights on August 8th from Najaf to Doha and futher to Istanbul.
To be able to leave the country I said that I was invited to a human rights workshop in Istanbul. This was a white lie, as you usually say.

I arrived in Istanbul and contacted my dad. He’s educational and understands young people’s thoughts. My goal was to fly to Europe to create a better future for me, my family and my children. I told this to dad and he said goodbye and take care of youself. Knowing that my parents supported me, I went to the city of Izmir. It is the closest point to the Greek border.

After several attempts to get over the sea, I managed to reach Greece. I arrived at the island of Samos and there I stayed for 8 days. Then I walked through several countries and finally I ended up in Sweden.

My second birth was 5th of October 2015. That’s when I arrived in Sweden. I got a residence permit in March 2017. My life has started and my dreams grow for every day. Right now I’m studying. I am interested in journalism and I own a news site the Arabic language in Sweden.

I have big dreams and will have to work hard to reach them. But it’s hard to be far from my parents. Especially during this difficult time and during Ramadan. We were used to being together daily. It’s not easy to be far away from your family.

It’s so easy to give up in the beginning. It’s easy to fail in a new country. But if you have a dream then you should fight to achieve it. Here the days go very fast. You can easily feel bored and long for your home country and wish to return. I hope new arrivals try to get into society and create something for themselves. In Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya there is war and many years are needed to rebuild the country. I hope we can take advantage of this opportunity and create a future for us and for our children. I hope we will give a good image of the Arab tradition in Swedish society.

Svenska:  Jag heter Bahaa och kommer från staden Najaf i Irak. Jag är född 1993.

Jag kom till Sverige i oktober 2015 och flydde från Irak augusti samma år. Jag har 3 bröder och 4 systrar. I Irak var jag en aktivist inom mänskliga rättigheter och även på sociala medier. Detta var vid sidan av mitt arbete. Jag jobbar på ett bibliotek där vi sålde skolmaterial.

Det var mycket svårt för mig att lämna Irak och familjen, eftersom vi är en familj som är mycket tillsammans och det är svårt att någon ger sig av. Jag tog beslutet att lämna Irak den 2: a juni.

Jag förberedde allt och bokade flyg den 8:e augusti från Najaf till Doha och vidare till Istanbul. För att kunna lämna landet så fick jag säga att jag är inbjuden till en workshop för mänskliga rättigheter i Istanbul. Detta var en vit lögn, som man brukar säga.

Jag kom fram till Istanbul och där kontaktade jag min pappa. Min pappa är pedagogisk och förstår ungdomars tankar. Mitt mål var att fly till Europa för att skapa en bättre framtid för mig, min familj och för mina barn.  Jag berättade detta för pappa och han sade: ”Lycka till. Ta hand om dig”. Efter att ha fått veta att mina föräldrar stöttade mig, åkte jag till staden Izmir. Det är den närmaste punkten till den grekiska gränsen.

Efter flera försök att ta oss över havet, så lyckades jag komma till Grekland. Jag kom fram till Ön Samos och där var jag kvar i 8 dagar. Sedan vandrade jag igenom flera länder och till sist hamnade jag i Sverige.

Min andra födelse var 5:e oktober 2015. Det var då jag kom fram till Sverige. Jag fick uppehållstillstånd i mars 2017. Mitt liv har startat och mina drömmar växer för varje dag. Just nu studerar jag. Jag är intresserad av journalistik och jag äger en nyhetssajt som är på det arabiska språket i Sverige.

Jag har stora drömmar och måste jobba hårt för att nå dem. Men det är svårt att vara långt ifrån mina föräldrar. Speciellt under den här svåra tiden och under ramadan. Vi var vana vid att vara tillsammans dagligen.  Det är inte lätt att vara långt ifrån familjen.

Det är lätt att ge upp i början. Det är lätt att misslyckas i ett nytt land. Men om man har en dröm, så ska man kämpa för att nå den. Här går dagarna mycket fort. Man kan lätt börja känna sig uttråkad och börjar längta hem och kanske vilja återvända. Jag hoppas att nyanlända försöker komma in i samhället och skapa något för sig själva. I Irak, Syrien, Yemen och Libyen är det krig och det behövs många år för att återbygga länderna. Jag hoppas att vi kan ta vara på den här möjligheten och skapa en framtid för oss och för våra barn. Jag hoppas att vi förmedlare en bra bild av den arabiska tradition i det svenska samhället.

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 Abdelnaser and I come from the countryside in Aleppo, Syria.

 I fled from Syria 2013 together with my entire family. We fled because of the unrest, from missiles and harassment.

 It’s not easy to leave your home country. But we had to. There´s a difference to leave a country when you choose to or if you are forced to do so. We were threatened with weapons and could die at any time.  No person can remain under those circumstances. I can’t describe my feelings, but I couldn’t find a solution to remain. 

We encountered many difficulties along the way before we reached the Turkish border. There were mines along the way, but we managed to avoid them. We stayed for a month in Turkey.

My closest family continued from Turkey, but most of my relatives are still there. I did’nt like Turkey, so I chose to go to Libya because there was work for me there. Syrians were not allowed to enter Libya. I first fled to Egypt and then I continued on illegal roads through the desert to Libya.

The flight from Egypt to Libya was worse than traveling from Syria to Turkey. We fled with a car through the desert and anyone can die on the road if the car tips over. I stayed in Libya for about 4 years. In Libya, I was threatened and beaten physically. The political situation became worse in the country. I tried to flee to Algeria or back to Turkey, but did not succeed. The only way to go further was through the Mediterranean. I fled with my heavely pregnant  wife and my son. I took the risk of traveling with my family through the ocean. I had heard that you could drown.

We fled by boat during the night. It would have been easier to travel during the day. Everything seems more scarry at night. I was afraid for my family and most afraid for my son who was 1.5 years old. We were out at sea for about 9 hours. The smugglers who were with us had weapons and some were drunk. They used very ugly words, which I don’t want to mention here. During these 9 hours we were very worried. Should we arrive or not?

After 9 hours we lost hope. We did’nt see any rescue boat. We could have drowned at any time. We lost hope and told each other that this is our last moment and hope that God will forgive us. After 45 minutes the helicopter came above us to see where we were and to report us to the rescue boats. After 1 hour they came and helped us. We felt safe when we got help. There were several boats in the middle of the ocean, not just us. They took us to Lampedusa in Italy. My wife was 9 months pregnant. I could have had a child out in the ocean.

In Italy they took care of us. They took us to a wellness center. Then they moved us to Sicily. I didn’t want to stay with my family in Italy, so we fled to Milan. It was very difficult to leave Italy. Especially as we were expecting a child. I had heard about a relief organization that helped refugees to move on. Sweden welcomed us. When we arrived in Sweden we encountered some difficulties like the language and we lived in a refugee resident outside the city. But life here is very good. Now I have been here for 5 months. I have started to learn new traditions and have new friends. I also met friends from my city Aleppo.

I have lost my future in my home country. I studied human rights for two years in Syria. Beside my studies I also I worked with plaster decorations.

I hope the EU can help refugees as much as possible. And not just refugees who are neighboring countries to Syria, but Syrians living in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and the Gulf countries that repress refugees. The oppression that occurred in Syria is not as great as what I met in Libya.

I have not mentioned other countries, where they don’t live well at all. I don’t want to mention only Syrians as there are other nationalities such as Palestinians and Iraqis. One can’t imagine how much oppression they have to stand.

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 Yousef Kadoura. I am Palestinians and lived in a small refugee settlement along with 20,000 other Palestinians. I went to a school that was also in the Alnerab refugee facility belonging to the government. Then I studied at the University of Damascus, the History Department. I studied and worked concurrently until I graduated. Then I worked as a teacher in Aleppo.

When the troubles started in Syria, we were afraid. Palestinians wanted to be neutral during the civil war in Syria, and we stood with Syria against foreign countries and joined the Syrian people to achieve better conditions. It was very difficult to be neutral because they did not accept that, but you were automatically on any of the sides. We managed to be neutral at the beginning of the events, but not later. The police and the government were after me and they detained me. The police came home to me and wanted to take me away barefoot. But I told them that I would not follow them unless I could change my clothes. My son woke up and we argued with them, but I was afraid for my son, so I went with them.

On the way they started putting cigarettes on my head, and as you can see, I have no hair. They struck me and eventually they put my hands on the ground and hit me with the weapon on my fingers. Here you can see my finger which is still injured from the beating. Then they hit me on my shoulders and head.

I was detained at Alnerab airport in a prison cell for 8 days. After 1-2 days the interrogations began. The police picked me up. I had a black bag over my head when the interrogation began. “Tell us about the free army and the demonstrations”. I told him that none of what you say is correct. Firstly, I am a teacher and everyone in the area knows me well. I have a good reputation. I am also against all weapons. Then he said, ok then let’s see if you will know. They started to hit my feet and back, kick me and they used electricity. I decided not to scream with pain because I thought of the other detainees, because they want you to scream to make the others afraid. I had nothing to say and I’m not ready to admit something that I had not done. Then he said they would send me to the court and asked me, you know what that means. I answered yes I know, that means I would get the death penalty, so they took me back to the cell.

I did not eat anything for four days. I was close to death. I could not get up and had a high fever. Then they opened the cell and called my name “Yousef Kadoura”, we went out together, and I’m politically active so I knew someone who managed to get me out. When people ask me, I tell you I went out of prison 30 minutes before death.

After that, there was only one solution, and it was leaving the country. In Turkey, I decided to take the risk and fly to Greece instead of taking the risk with my children. I flew alone. I arrived in Sweden in November 2013. The residence permit in Sweden took a long time, I received it after 1 year.

The reunion also took a long time and is not done yet, because I have a daughter who is handicapped. She is 30 years old but she is like a child. One of the reasons for flying was that we are getting older and worried about her. It’s not that her siblings can not take care of her, but we start to be afraid for her sake. Of course we want to live in freedom but not without her, she should also be part of the reunification, but unfortunately, the Migration Board does not accept the reunification and we have applied twice.

I have two children who are here, one in sixth grade and the other in high school, but the mother is left with the daughter. It is very difficult. We’ll have to wait and see what’s going to happen to my daughter. We can not let her fly here, we wait and see what decision the Migration Board makes.

Perhaps I will have to return to Syria and that return involves many risks. The government can at any time catch me and imprison me.

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 Sinan and I am an Iraqi journalist.

I worked as a journalist for 5 years in my home country. I worked for magazines, newspapers and television. I was a reporter for the Iraqi Channel Alsomaria and studied journalism at Degla University in Baghdad.

My life was like any Iraqi youth. My generation grew up during a lot of war. I was born during war, grew up during war and fled during the last war against ISIS. We knew the war. But there was also a life beside that was about love. I met a lot of people in my work and I was their voice to the government.

I loved my job. Journalism is a profession where you tell things to the people. My work, my social life and the time I was a student was a very exciting period in my life. But It was the difficult circumstances that made me leave everything.

The worst feeling in my life was when I left the country I grew up in. There is the family, home, school, work and your friends. It is very difficult to leave one’s home country. But the war, politics, armed groups and insecurity affected my work.

You can be any person, European or Asian: you will always miss your home country. It’s hard to forget the feelings you had or places you remember. I think what made me move on is that I’ve started a new life in a new country, with new friends and a new job. I don’t want to say that you can forget about your memories. Just that you can try to think about the new things that surround you to make it easier and you will feel less sad.  

Some days I feel happy, others I feel sad. I’m glad that I’m still working with journalism. I am reporting in Arabic newspapers about different events in Malmö. Sometimes I feel sad, like any migrant. Migration in Sweden takes a long time and the waiting makes me think and I get bored.

It takes a long time to receive a response from the migration agency. I have mixed feelings from day to day, joy and sorrow. But in any case, Sweden is a fine country, democratic and there is freedom of opinion. When I work as a journalist here, I am entitled to my opinions, entitled to what I write and entitled to what I publish.

I miss Baghdad, the living capital. There is always life in a capital. There is love, there is competition, a soul. There is war, violence and armed groups, but at the same time there is life, hope and optimism among the people. I miss meeting my friends in a café. I also miss my colleagues and I miss my family very much. Refugees sense of loneliness is the hardest bit. It’s a deep sorrow, because you are lonely without your family and friends

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