“My dream is to no longer have a headache and to be loved”

The dreams of Pinar, the 27-year-old Kurdish man, originally from Syria, sound simple. Pinar is unable to look at us straight in the eye and blushes while he speaks during our interview. He has been in Greece for a while now and lives alongside two compatriots in an apartment provided by SolidarityNow, which is part of the Safe Refugee program, dedicated to the LGBT refugees.

Pinar is gay.

The story of his life so far, and his journey to Athens, most likely testify the reasons of why he is so shy, introverted and hesitant.

He grew up in Syria with his parents and nine siblings. Even though he is currently in Greece, the other members of his family, are scattered in Syria, Iraq and Germany. He has happy memories from his childhood and speaks fondly of some of his siblings which he feels close to. However, he could never share with his family members who he truly is, how he really feels, and the fact that he is gay.

When he graduated from high school, he enrolled into law and studied for two years. However, his studies were cut short because he had to escape. As he says, he had to escape from two different things: “from war and from the behavior of his peers after they suspected that I was gay”. Those were the two dangers Pinar faced, and the reasons that led him to fleeing, the only solution he thought was possible. During his travels, the stigma that followed him was therefore double.

He arrived in Turkey first and no longer wants to remember those days, confessing that they were probably the worst in his life. – “There, you can’t be anything. Not a refugee and not a gay man”. Those were the circumstances he had to live in. He was abused because he was Kurdish and was hospitalized for a month. Later, he was forced to leave Turkey and return to Syria, naked.

In his second try, he managed to get from Syria to Constantinople, but faced and overcame many obstacles in the way. He stayed in Constantinople for a bit longer than a month. There he took a big decision. He left of foot and headed towards Thessaloniki. When he finally arrived he was tired, desperate and scared and had no papers in order to prove his identity.

He received help from some of his friends who had arrived in Greece before him. He called John, an old friend from Syria who was already in Athens. He helped him right away, by sending him money and waiting for him to arrive in Athens, the city that would become their next home. They could have never imagined that life would bring them together, in the same city and house, where they would find warmth and safety.

Today, they finally feel safe. John helps Pinar to become a more extrovert individual, and to heal what hurts the most, the headaches which are result of the abuse he faced.

Pinar, although still a bit reluctant, seems to be more hopeful. “Slowly, I will open up and be able to sort out things and even reach and achieve my dreams”. Besides, he is now waiting for the decision concerning his asylum in Greece, which makes him more optimistic.

When asked what his dreams were, he replied that he wished to live freely, to not be haunted by pain, to continue his studies and eventually become a lawyer. He wants to take care of himself and find a partner who he can love but who will also love him.

Pinar’s dreams are similar to the dreams of most people his age. While his need for love is the same as everyone’s, no matter their age, origin, sexual orientation, professional status or economic situation.

“Love is for everyone”, states Pinar.

And we agree with him.

*Pinar lives in one of the SolidarityNow accommodation structures in Athens under the Safe Refugee program implemented by the organization and is part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ESTIA Support Program for Integration and Housing and funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

**Through the Safe Refugee Program, SolidarityNow provides accommodation to refugees, in independent apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki. The program’s beneficiaries receive free psychosocial support, legal counseling, they participate in educational and recreational activities, and are members of a wider support network that aims to improve their living conditions and support them during their stay in Greece.

Maya and Batis: two best friends

Maya and Batis belong in a large group of people that are called “moving populations”. More specifically, the two friends, are members of a subgroup of these moving populations. They are part of the LGBTI subgroup. The key cause of movement for them is mainly fear.

That fear however, is not fear of war or natural disaster, but the fear or physical integrity, isolation, displacement and abuse as well as the fear of personality infringement and other endless small, everyday worries that generate a greater one. This undefeatable fear which dabbles with guilt is created by other people and targets their peers.

Maya and Batis, both from Tunisia have been victims of discrimination, almost since they could remember.

Maya is trans and Batis is gay.

It’s hard to describe their stories separately. These two, young people have become one, as best friends usually do. It appears as if their stories and paths intertwined even before they got to know each other.

Maya is an impressive woman with long blond hair, so expressive that whatever she says can come alive right before our eyes. Her facial expressions, her eyes, often full of tears and the vibrant movements of her hands are simply stunning. When next to her, Batis talks about Maya as if she is not present, and she agrees with every word he has to say about her – “he knows me better than I know myself“.

Batis, a tall, thin, introverted and more fragile young man speaks softly when describing his past life in Tunisia and his present in Greece. Many times, during our encounter, the two friends ‘isolated’ themselves in their binary world – it was enough for them to simply gaze in each other’s eyes.

They speak Arabic, French, English and a bit of Greek. They are two young people, Maya at 26 and Batis at 27, who like most of their peers, are trying to find work in Greece. If they find a job they will stay in Athens; a city they have fallen in love with. “Before I arrived in Greece, I thought that this country would be the bridge for me to go somewhere else in Europe, but once I stepped my foot in Athens I felt it! I want to live here“, Batis says. The same applies to Maya, although Maya knows – and whoever meets her understands it too – she can survive everywhere – just like a chameleon. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have made it to Tunisia, or to Turkey where she lived with Batis for six (6) months. Maya cannot forget those cruel months, but she has left all that behind her, by trying very hard and receiving psychosocial support.

Unpleasant family memories, abuse, fleeing. Those are common characteristics the two share, causing them to leave their families and homes to start living by themselves, when Maya was only 16, and then Batis, 20. They might have lived alone but they were free. Without being punished for every move they made by the people closest to them, their parents. The years of living alone in Tunisia, until 2017 when they arrived in the Greek island Lesvos, include, both good and bad moments – as it happens in all people’s lives in any part of the world they may live in.

Even in the most terrible moments, Maya and Batis had each other. For them, being together is the motivation and power they need in order to move forward; their relationship is beautiful and rare. Sometimes, when they talk it is as if they admire what they have managed to create between them.

They live together, in the same house*. Together they overcome health problems; they attend training seminars; they dream about their lives in Greece and they organize their daily routine. They generously offer each other the love that they never received from their families. They also help those who are in need by giving them advice and support. Like Batis says for Maya, “Maya raised her two younger siblings and now she is raising us. She is a mother”.

Maya’s personality is composed of unique and contrasting characteristics. She does not express her emotions; however, she is very protective towards the people she loves and acts like a mother figure to them, supporting everyone she can. She very often talks about herself in the third person – “Maya woke up at 11”, “Maya can’t be oppressed” – and of course when we notice she replies, “I talk with her, I’m friends with Maya”.

Maya and Batis don’t differ at all from any other person of their age who is trying to mend their present and build a future, by looking for work, finding a partner and collecting experiences and knowledge. The only difference is that Maya remembers looking in the mirror and seeing a girl at the age of five, and Batis remembers falling in love with a boy when he was only nine.

It took a while for them to understand that the right to self-determination is something that exists for them too.

But now that they know, and they claim it.

*Maya and Batis live in one of the SolidarityNow accommodation structures in Athens under the Safe Refugee program implemented by the organization and is part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ESTIA Support Program for Integration and Housing and funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

**Through the Safe Refugee Program, SolidarityNow provides accommodation to refugees, in independent apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki. The program’s beneficiaries receive free psychosocial support, legal counseling, they participate in educational and recreational activities, and are members of a wider support network that aims to improve their living conditions and support them during their stay in Greece.

“Here, I don’t need to apologize to anyone”

“The last time I cried was two weeks ago. I listened to Arabic music and I thought of my dead mother. The last time I laughed was … today, yes today!”

Our conversation with Hassanin, from Iraq, started sort of like this.

Iraq – Turkey – Greece. Lesvos, Malakasa, Athens. And before his final stop so far, Athens, Egypt – Lebanon – Jordan – Syria.

Hassanin talks about countries and cities, endless journeys and places, as if they were simply urban train stations. Now he can speak like that, he tells us. In each of these countries, Hassanin had to face something new and most of the time something unpleasant. The greatest wound for the 29-year-old Hassanin was what he had to face in his home country, which forced him into a future far from it.

Hassanin is gay.

This meant something like a captivating way of life – in his country, Hassanin was forced to hide, to live a double and unspoken life, where he feared his own family and their social circle, that was, and still is of great importance to his family.

Unfortunate events finally led to him facing the disapproval of his family and obliged him to apologize for who he was and what he felt. He began to fear for his life, thus making the decision to flee from Iraq and seek safety away from his family – the family that is now distant from him, and not only in kilometers.

He was forced to learn how to live in hiding but despite the obstacles, he managed to study at the University, and to then work as a journalist in a popular Iraqi newspaper. Apart from his daily job, he always found time for his hobbies too – he is a successful amateur singer, photographer and editor; a talent which led him to direct his own video clip!

As he himself states, Hassanin always kept his smile, his optimism and love for the various activities that move and motivate him, as well as the liveliness for his dreams and his future. While talking with him, all the above were shown in his smiling face. Hassanin’s brown eyes show his belief that since he has survived up to this day, he will for sure, do much better in the future. In fact, he believes in a truly beautiful future, way more beautiful than the past.

After so many geographical locations, countless survival efforts, the struggle to maintain his dignity, Hassanin lives in Athens. He managed to become close once more with two of his siblings, with whom he communicates often so they know how he is doing. However, they warn him not to go back to Iraq. It is not a place where Hassanin will be accepted in.

However, he doesn’t feel hurt; he loves them all – but from afar. Now he is only interested in his future. He is trying to learn Greek and English and doesn’t stop exploring Athens, which has become a new homeland for him. A homeland which he wants to photograph excessively and discover its secrets. Athens is a city where he feels free.

“The most beautiful experience is the sea! Yes, the sea is an amazing experience! I always have my backpack full of things that make me feel like I’m travelling. I go out and become an explorer”.

His dream is to become a photojournalist.

Another dream of his is to be able to sleep peacefully; to not be afraid of the fire anymore. This fear is a result of his stay at the refugee camp in Moria, Lesvos, and of the inhumane living conditions Hassanin and thousands of other refugees experienced.

Hassanin is gradually leaving his past behind and thinks of the future. A 29-year-old man who sees life unfolding in front of him without fear and restrictions. He confesses that he now feels like an equal and a proud member of a society where sexual orientation does not justify discrimination among humans.

Because it’s not. 

*Hassanin lives in one of the SolidarityNow accommodation structures in Athens under the Safe Refugee program implemented by the organization and is part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ESTIA Support Program for Integration and Housing and funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

**Through the Safe Refugee Program, SolidarityNow provides accommodation to refugees, in independent apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki. The program’s beneficiaries receive free psychosocial support, legal counseling, they participate in educational and recreational activities, and are members of a wider support network that aims to improve their living conditions and support them during their stay in Greece.

My favorite Greek expression is «se agapo»* says Ahmad Hajj Daoud in broken Greek.

Ahmad is 18 years old and he is coming from Syria. The last 3 months he was living in one of the Thessaloniki’s apartments that SolidarityNow provides to LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees.

Ahmad found “Safe Refugee”, the specialized assistance program of SolidarityNow for LGBTI through the Greek NGO Arsis “This program saved my life. Now I can do whatever I want” says Ahmad.

Ahmad is a very determined person and he always looks at the bright side of life. Even though he knew that he will be relocated to Germany, he has put a lot of effort to learn Greek.

“I made a lot of friends here. I really like Greece and I don’t want to leave, because here the people respect the refugees. In Greece I have rights, rights that I didn’t have back in my country” he says.

In Germany, he will be reunited with his beloved sister. He is excited about his new journey, because he will start a new life. His dreams are to finish school and to find a good job as a social worker. He admits that from Greece he will miss the most Efi Hatzitimotheadou-Social Worker responsible for the LGBTI program in Thessaloniki. “Efi has helped us a lot, she is like our sister” notes Ahmad and adds “I want to say a big thank to SolidarityNow for this program”.

Ahmad, we want to wish you best of luck for your new life. May you get what you want! See you again in Greece!

*”I love you” in Greek

“I’d rather not reveal my identity,” says N., who sits in a yellow armchair holding his hands tight. N. is quite timid. Although he is 27 years old, he seems much more mature for his age. Displacement and its outcomes make people older, you can see its traces on their faces. N. is coming from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has been living in Thessaloniki for the last 5 months and he is a beneficiary of Safe Refugee, SolidarityNow’s specialized assistance program for LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers.

Addis Ababa, in Amharic, the official language of the country, means “new flower”. Even though the name represents something new and fresh, the city – like the whole country – remains deeply conservative. Under Article 629 of the Criminal Code, both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal and punishable by up to 15 years in prison. This is because homosexuality can lead to shame-induced suicide. That is why N. declares without a second thought. – “Now I feel safe. When I was in Chios and in Turkey I couldn’t imagine I would have this life”.

N. worked in various local NGOs, supporting vulnerable social groups (mainly children and women). Apparently, everything went well in his life. He was doing a job that he loved, he was earning good money, he had good friends, and he didn’t have any problem with his family. In fact, he had plans to continue his studies by doing a master’s degree in psychology. However, N. was forced to live a double life as he had to keep his sexual orientation a secret. Everything began to change after he has been targeted by the police.

Any indication of intimacy between people of same sex, from grasping hands to passing hands around the shoulders may have a different and dangerous interpretation by the society and the police. Many young people in Ethiopia find “shelter” on the web, where, through various websites, they meet people.

N. was communicating with a guy from Addis Ababa, who had met him through a dating site. This person lived abroad but he was planning to visit Addis Ababa. The two of them met and spent some time together. When they went to his friend’s hotel, the security arrested N. They took him to the police station where he stayed for one day in the prison. “It was disgusting. It was very unpleasant experience for me, “says N. and tightens his grip in the armchair. His problems didn’t finish. He went to court where he was found guilty of homosexuality, but he was acquitted for lack of evidence. The court terrified him. “In my country, being gay is very bad, it’s like being the devil. After all these, I didn’t want to stay in Addis Ababa anymore. The next stage would be to put me in jail, “says N. He took the final decision to leave when one of his brothers called him and threatened him by saying that he would kill him if he will find that he is homosexual. “I didn’t want my family, my father and my mother to learn the truth. It was then that I decided that I wanted to live! “Says N.

How can someone want to remain in a country where in 2014, Patriarch Abune Mathias, head of Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church, condemned homosexuality. During his announcement he said, “I would like to confirm to all Ethiopian that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church will fight this grand sin fiercely to the end”. According to the Star-Sponsored Homophobia report, a global survey of sexual orientation laws, developed by ILGA (International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex), published in May, homosexuality is outlawed in 32 African countries.

N. left Ethiopia in January 2017. He paid smugglers to get him across borders to neighboring Sudan. He has been stacked along with other Africans in an unknown place, where they gave them food and water once a day. For a month he didn’t know if it was day or night. Eventually, they gave him a fake passport and an air ticket to Istanbul. They told him that someone would wait for him at the airport.  The guy took him outside the airport area and told him that he would return, but he never came back. L. didn’t know where to go and what to do. He just wandered around the city. Later that night, he was walking on a street, when he heard two people, a woman and a man speaking his language. He approached them and asked for their help. His two compatriots accommodated him for 15 days and advised him that it’s better for him to leave Turkey. They even gave him $ 500 to pay the smugglers to get him in Greece. He tried twice to sneak across the borders. The first time he was arrested by the Turkish police. He spent 10 days in prison. The second time he succeeded, and he arrived in Chios. In Chios, the situation was quite difficult because he didn’t feel safe and he had to keep his sexual orientation a secret.

N. became beneficiary of SolidarityNow’s Safe Refugee program -implemented by UNHCR’s support 5 months ago. Since then his life has changed radically and for the better. “Now I feel safe. I feel free. No one criticizes me because I’m gay”, N. confesses. We asked him if he has left behind his past. “It is difficult to erase the past. You don’t take easily the decision to leave your country. When you live there, you have almost everything, your family, your friends, your job … But when you leave, you lose everything for a long time, because you do not know when you will return. It’s hard to forget all that, but to some extent I prefer to be here because I have rights here, because Greece is an open society. I saved my life, but my feelings are mixed. At the same time, I feel unhappy because I left my country, but I am also happy for my new life”, says N.  Few months ago, he wanted to leave Greece but now he sees his future here. N. has made 6 good Greek friends, who have been standing next. Moreover, his main priorities are to learn Greek, to continue his studies in psychology and to find a job in a NGO.

“Sometimes, people are coming here, and they have great expectations, but the reality is completely different. It would be very useful for people like me, to have a better understanding of what they will face in the country they want to go. I think it would be useful for us who have gone through this situation to be able to somehow share our experiences, “says N.

*N. lives in one of the SolidarityNow accommodation structures in Athens under the Safe Refugee program implemented by the organization and is part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ESTIA Support Program for Integration and Housing and funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

**Through the Safe Refugee Program, SolidarityNow provides accommodation to refugees, in independent apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki. The program’s beneficiaries receive free psychosocial support, legal counselling, they participate in educational and recreational activities, and are members of a wider support network that aims to improve their living conditions and support them during their stay in Greece.

At SolidarityNow we celebrate.

Along with Ahmed, N., Hassan and Baref, Maya and Batis, Hasanin, John and Pinar, we celebrate their right to self-determination and social inclusion.

Starting from today and till the 9th of June, when the Athens Pride 2018 takes place, through the #iAmStrong series, we unfold the stories of the LGBT refugees – beneficiaries of SolidarityNow.

“Biologically, physiologically, we do not differ very much from each other; but, as narratives, each one of us is unique.” * This belief is highlighted through the #iAmStrong , a set of unique personal narratives of LGBT people who do not differ from another person.

Refugees belonging to the LGBT community face double stigma. This double stigma makes them feel trapped and stigmatized. The last thing we want for the members of the LGBT refugee community in Greece is to give them another “label”. They have already suffered several impositions. Through #iAmStrong, we become their voice to make them sense the liberating power existing in expression and writing. 

Furthermore, #iAmStrong suggests that these young people, who have often been hunted for what they are, are now leaving back the painful family stories, the abuse, the violence, the racism, the fear. All these, as they say, made the escape from their home countries the only option.

Refugees and members of the LGBT community in Greece are supported by SolidarityNow in their transition period at their new home – until they get asylum, learn the language, find work in Greece, make their own steps towards a new life.

In recent years, the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBT) communities have made a great progress worldwide on claiming rights and inclusion. However, in many countries, the members of the LGBT community still face discrimination and violence, which leads to social exclusion.

To start make the change, read their stories and get to know them…  

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* Oliver Sacks, “Ceci est ma femme”, 1985

**Through the Safe Refugee Program, SolidarityNow provides accommodation to refugees, in independent apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki. The program’s beneficiaries receive free psychosocial support, legal counseling, they participate in educational and recreational activities, and are members of a wider support network that aims to improve their living conditions and support them during their stay in Greece.

***The accommodation program is implemented by SolidarityNow and is part of the ESTIA Support Program for Integration and Housing of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

“We came here, and our lives changed. Do you see the color of my mobile phone screen? It is black… My life was like that before I came here”.

Hassan and Baref are a couple and refugees.

They have known each other for many years. They have met when they were living in their country in Middle East. Today they live in one of the apartments that SolidarityNow provides to asylum seekers through its Accommodation Program. Both of them are beneficiaries of the Safe Refugee program*, the specialized assistance program for LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers. We are at the living room of their new home. Smokers sit on the balcony and smoke their last cigarette. The rest sit on the couch and talk about the weather. Hassan takes his place on the couch next to Baref, and she grabs his hand. Both sit comfortably on the couch.

Hassan and Baref speak their own secret language, like all couples do. A glance or a nod is enough to communicate with each other.

Hassan, 27-year-old, is gay and Baref, 21-year-old, is trans.

They have started out as friends and then became lovers. Love came but fear grew great. It is very strange to listen someone in 2018 saying that he cannot love freely and openly. “We wanted to go for a coffee or a trip, but we couldn’t. It had to be someone else with us. We were afraid”, says Hassan. “If you are gay, lesbian or transgender in our country you cannot come out. It is a confidential information. If someone learns the truth, the consequences would be dire”, Baref adds.

For Hassan and Baref, things began to get difficult and dangerous after an incident. They have never imagined that a pleasant night out with friends would turn into a nightmare. They have received death threats and some people tried to kill them. They had no choice but to go to the police seeking for help. “You have no rights here. We cannot help you. You have a mental illness, we were told”, says Baref. Hassan and Baref came up with the decision to leave their country against their will.

Hassan’s and Baref’s “problem” was not just their sexual orientation, but also the fact that a Sunni and a Shiite had a love relationship. Because of the above they faced problems with the society and their families. Family plays a crucial role in their society. Each family protects and supports its members. However, Hassan and Baref have been ostracized by their family. “They gave us a letter where they wrote that they do not care if someone kills us”, Hassan stresses. They didn’t want to carry such a document with them, that’s why they threw it away.

Alone but together, and with the support of the female members of their families they managed to escape. Their first stop was in Turkey, and then they paid a smuggler to get them to Greece and Lesvos island. The €2,000 for two non-return tickets were enough to book two seats in a dinghy boat packed with more than 48 refugees. On the island they faced problems because of their relationship. They asked for help and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees transferred them to SolidarityNow’s apartments. “We came here, and our lives changed. Do you see the color of my mobile phone screen? It is black… My life was like that before I came here”, Baref states.

“People here are open-minded, we have no problem, and the social worker in Safe Refugee Program helps us like all SolidarityNow team”, Hassan says and adds “we came here, and all the bad things came to an end.” The couple is trying to get adjusted in the new city. They are taking Greek language classes and trying to expand their social life. Hassan wants to find stability and get asylum in Greece and Baref, as she tells us, wants to become a transsexual.

*Hassan and Baref live in one of the SolidarityNow accommodation structures in Athens under the Safe Refugee program implemented by the organization and is part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ESTIA Support Program for Integration and Housing and funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

**Through the Safe Refugee Program, SolidarityNow provides accommodation to refugees, in independent apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki. The program’s beneficiaries receive free psychosocial support, legal counseling, they participate in educational and recreational activities, and are members of a wider support network that aims to improve their living conditions and support them during their stay in Greece.

Today he lives in France with his family – his wife and their four children. The relocation of Khalil’s family from Greece to France took place after two years in Greece and a painful trip from Iraq to Europe.

“We were trying hard for years to build a life and in two hours we lost everything“.

Khalil speaks about his life in Iraq, a life full of bitterness, as he says, since, almost during all his adult life, he was persecuted by ISIS for religious reasons. He couldn’t endure any more – he got frightened about his children’ life.

They left everything and abandoned their homeland looking for safety in Europe. Before they arrived at Greece, they had to spend two painful years in Turkey, having crossed the mountains on foot for seven days.

They will always remember Greece warmly because the Greeks, as Kahlil says, “showed us respect“. Now the four children go to school and learn French; for Hawas, Aiwas, Rionas and Vinas, their parents say smiling, “they are a gang!”

Today, the parents and the four-member-gang have the whole future ahead of them. We wish them to live safely and always remain open to learning, knowledge and progress.

*Khalil’s family was hosted in the organization’s accommodation structure in Paiania operated under the ESTIA, the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation programme, implemented by the UNHCR and funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

Ahmed and Halwa are parents of six children. They are in Greece since July 2017 with their five children – “We managed to save our eldest son first; he traveled on his own and arrived at Germany.” The 14-year-old son who lives in Germany over the past two years is doing well, his parents say, “and he’s almost fluent in German.”

They have applied for family reunification and they wait for the approval for the past eight months. While they are in this standby situation, they do not give up life – “the children keep us alive!”, says the 48-year-old farmer Ahmed, whose main concern is his children’ education. Therefore, the whole family participate in the German courses held at the organization’s accommodation structure and preparing themselves for the future.

These two parents, beyond safety, want nothing more for their children than to go to school. “If they are educated, they will make it in life“, says Ahmed. He didn’t manage to finish school – he became a good farmer.

“We are patient“, says Halwa. The separation is tolerable when they know that their son in Germany is well. They are happy with life offered in the accommodation structure because they feel safe; the daily routine there helps them leave behind the bad memories of the war and they are proud to see their children participate in the various activities organized by the organization’s team – “it is a great help for our children!”

*The family of Ahmed and Halwa is hosted in the organization’s accommodation structure in Paiania operated under the ESTIA, the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation programme, implemented by the UNHCR and funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

Radua from Syria is a mother of nine children.

She has been in Greece for more than a year with five of her children. Her four older children live in different countries of the world; the 25-year-old son of hers lives with his father in Germany and the other three, all girls, in three different countries.

The 45-year-old Radua has requested family reunification with her husband and son who are in Germany. Her husband, Mohammad, and their son, Sojdar, have been in the northern Europe for four years now and are working, “paving the way” to welcome the rest of the family.

Father and son are both musicians.

That was their job -and their love- back in Syria. They were lucky and now they work as musicians in Germany. The eldest musician plays the bouzouki and the younger the synthesizer – together they participate in many performances that take place in different parts of Germany and manage to live with dignity. When Radua talks about their work moves her legs to the beat – in the rhythm of a song of their homeland, one of the songs that Mohammad was playing for his wife.

The five younger siblings look forward to reunite with their father and brother; they pray for it and are patient, as the 45-year-old Radua says and mentions “with all I have been through, I look so much older than I am. I will turn back the clock when I go to Germany“.

*Radua’s family is hosted in the organization’s accommodation structure in Paiania operated under the ESTIA, the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation programme, implemented by the UNHCR and funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).