Refugee Stories Project - Poland

Ahmed

editor — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:21:14 +0000

Summary

Ahmed arrived in Poland in 1986 to study, but applied for asylum ten years later, following the outbreak of the civil war in Sudan. With no access to legal advice he did not realise he could appeal the rejection of his asylum claim.

Body

Ahmed left Sudan in 1986 to study in Poland. While he was there, the political situation in Sudan changed. The Nuba mountain region, where he comes from, was in the front line between the government forces and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement. He applied for asylum in Poland in 1996, but knew nothing about the procedure and on receiving a negative decision nearly gave up. Five years later, he was granted refugee status, having sought help from an NGO.

Ahmed talks about his experience of claiming asylum in a country in which he had already been living for over ten years. He is conscious that had he not been able to speak Polish, his future could have been very different.

"..based on my experience, sometimes the Polish authorities do not give full information and they count that the asylum seeker or refugee will go to the NGOs and get advice there.. but not everybody knows about NGOs."

Links 1

asylum procedures

Links 2

Links 3

Links 4

Links 5

Ali

editor — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:53:45 +0000

Summary

Ali is a qualified engineer from Chechnya who fled to Poland with his family in 2003. He was granted tolerated status, but feels insecure and alienated from Polish society.

Body

Ali is an engineer from Chechnya, now living in Poland. He became caught up in the Chechen – Russian conflict and escaped with his family in 2003, after he had been detained and interrogated three times by the Russian security services. He has since heard from relatives that rumours are circulating in Chechnya accusing him of betraying his own people and he is fearful of revenge attacks.

Ali cannot return home but does not feel safe or settled in Poland. His application for refugee status was rejected and he was granted tolerated status, leaving him without support while he struggles to overcome discrimination on the labour market.

“I don’t feel safe here, so I would like to leave this country. I don’t care about myself, just about my son.”

Links 1

ECRE Chechen Guidelines

Links 2

Links 3

Links 4

subsidiary protection

Links 5

Memorial report: situation of Chechens in Russian Federation

Roza

Admin — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 11:45:14 +0000

Summary

Roza fled the Chechen-Russian conflict and was granted refugee status in Poland. In spite of the anxious period she spent appealing the rejection of her asylum claim, she was determined to integrate into Polish society and now works as a doctor at a local school.

Body

In September 1999, Roza was working on her PHd in her hometown of Grozny, in Chechnya, when Russian bombs began to fall once again on the capital. For Roza, this signalled the start of the second Chechen war, and she fled to Poland and asked for asylum.

"I realised it was the next phase of the war and decided to rescue my children..... I was thinking about the shelter we -me and my children - would receive, about safety. This was my only dream..."

Roza's application for asylum was initially refused and she had to leave the state-run reception centre where she had been learning Polish. Roza prefers not to talk about this anxious period in her life, but focuses instead on her family's adaptation to life in Poland.