Refugee Stories Project - Middle East

Maria

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:45:39 +0000

Summary

Maria has been a refugee in Greece ever since she fled Iran under the rule of Khomeini, when a colleague of her husband was imprisoned and killed for his political beliefs. Now, after twenty years in the country, Maria still has to renew her refugee status annually and struggles to belong in Greece.

Body

Maria says that her story as a refugee is full of too much fear and insecurity. She has been living in Greece since fleeing political persecution from Iran more than twenty years ago, but she still has no permanent status of any kind. The difficulties of her life as a refugee have taken their toll: the mental anguish of not knowing what the future holds and the memories of bringing up her children with almost no money to buy adequate food and clothes are hard to live with. Sometimes she feels like giving up but finds strength and companionship in an intercultural theatre group.

“Greece is a country that makes you feel insecure. If it weren’t for the theatrical group, it would have been awful. When our work was mentioned in the newspapers, I thought to myself ‘My land is the stage.”

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Reception and Integration

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ECRE

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Majidi

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:42:49 +0000

Summary

Majidi is a refugee in Hungary, originally from Afghanistan. He fled war in his native country, poverty in Pakistan, and intimidation by soldiers in Turkey. He speaks eight languages, including Hungarian, and now feels settled in Hungary.

Body

Majidi is from Afghanistan, and has been living as a refugee in Hungary since 2004. His family fled the fighting in their home country, and tried to find a future in Pakistan. Poverty and lack of opportunity then drove Majidi to make his way to Europe.

When he arrived in Hungary, he did not intend to stay there, thinking that there would be more opportunities in Western Europe. But he now sees his future in Hungary, where through the kindness of friends and using his linguistic skills he has a job that he enjoys.

“I like reading, and going to the cinema or dancing. It depends on the company, I don’t want to offend anyone, I can fit in.”

Links 1

Border Controls

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ECRE

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Hedja

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:24:29 +0000

Summary

At 19, Hedja was the oldest of three children accompanying their father to visit relatives in Germany. While abroad the situation in Iran prevented their father’s return and the family were obliged to seek politcal asylum in Spain – the first EU country they had entered. Five years on, Hedja's father and youngest brother have been granted refugee status, but she and another brother have not.

Body

Against all the odds, 24 year old Hedja is managing to complete her studies in dentistry at university in Spain. When she first arrived from Iran with 2 brothers and an ailing father seeking political asylum, she didn't know any Spanish and didn't have any qualifications recognised in Spain. The family waited five years for their asylum application to be processed. Even though Hedja doesn't know whether her temporary leave to stay in Spain will be renewed, she says it's preferable to the insecurity and anxiety of waiting for a decision from one day to the next.

“I live with my family, I am studying. We are less stressed now, after all the bad things that happened to us. They replied to us whether for good or bad, at least they replied.”

Links 1

Reception and Integration

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ECRE

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Habib

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:14:25 +0000

Summary

Habib left his home in Afghanistan at 16, when Taliban activists punished his village by closing down the only school and carrying out routine attacks on the inhabitants. Habib fled after being badly injured in one of the attacks and is now living in Greece.

Body

Habib always intended to make something of his life but the Taliban deprived him of a future in his own country. Ill health, resulting from Taliban beatings, forced Habib to leave Afghanistan in search of medical treatment and better prospects. After living in Iran and Turkey for some 4 years with no prospect of earning enough money to pay for hospital care, he tried to reach Europe. He got across the waters in a makeshift boat that took him as far as Greece, where he has found treatment for his injuries, but not the future he had hoped for.

“My mind is confused. After 7 years away from my country, I called one day to talk to my mother and they told me she had died. There was a war going on where we were living, and there was nothing they could have done, they did not have medicine, they could not go to the hospital, so she died.”

Links 1

Reception and Integration

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ECRE

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Kasim

editor — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 15:49:17 +0000

Summary

Kasim is 39 years old and fled political persecution in Iraq in 2001. He sought asylum in Sweden but after four years he was sent back to Italy, where he had first arrived, under the EU's Dublin Regulation.

Body

"It was torture, it reminded me of prison in Iraq."

This is how Kasim describes the four years and four months he lived in Sweden while waiting to be returned to Italy under the Dublin Convention. Kasim arrived in Italy in 2001 and left after a few weeks of sleeping rough in a park. Eighteen months into his asylum procedure in Sweden he was told he would have to return to Italy, but it was another two years before he was finally put on a plane to Rome. The uncertainty, broken appointments, cancelled flights and the waiting eventually led Kasim to attempt suicide.

Kasim's decision to leave Italy for Sweden was made out of desperation. He knew nothing of the asylum procedure in Sweden, nor of the Dublin Convention. He was searching for a safe and secure place to live and when he did not find that in the first EU country he reached, he looked for it in another.

Links 1

ECRE on Dublin

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Dublin Regulation

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Mahdi

editor — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:22:05 +0000

Summary

Mahdi was tortured by Iran's secret police and fled to the Netherlands in 2000. His asylum application was rejected and in fear of being sent back to Iran, he fled to Denmark. He has since been returned to the Netherlands and is now living without status.

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Mahdi fled Iran after being tortured by the government security services. He reported to the Dutch immigration officials on arrival in Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. He had no expectations other than that his story of persecution would receive a fair hearing by the Dutch immigration authorities.

"I was literally destroyed, fresh scar, bad health."

Six years later, Mahdi is without status, having lodged three asylum applications in the Netherlands. Following the failure of his final appeal, Mahdi fled to Denmark to avoid expulsion. There, he applied for asylum and was undergoing psychiatric care when he was returned to the Netherlands under the Dublin Regulation.

Mahdi’s desperate search for protection exposes the risk of fast tracking the applications of vulnerable asylum seekers.