Refugee Crisis

Apr 11

“I worked as a waiter in Saudi Arabia for seven years to save money so that I could build a house in Syria. It only had two rooms and a bathroom, but for me it was paradise. We lived there for about twenty years. We did not want to leave. We have young children and no money to travel. But it became impossible to live. Our house was situated between the army and the opposition. Every day the army knocked on our door, and said: ‘Help us or we will kill you.’ They came to the restaurant where I worked and accused us of feeding the enemy. We hid in the cellar while they beat the manager. If the opposition managed to capture our village, we would also be killed. They would accuse us of collaborating with the army. We had no options. Minding our own business was not a choice. We left with nothing but our clothes.”

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“My father loved children. But I was his favorite because I was the small one.”

“The army searched our house six times. The first two times they knocked on the door.”

“I’m sixty-two years old. I was a government clerk in Baghdad.”

“I lived in Mosul for five months under ISIS. I tried to avoid trouble but one of my neighbors reported me for shaving my beard”

“I studied to be a teacher, but I’m young, so I knew I’d be forced to fight.”

“I wish I could have done more for her. Her life has been nothing but struggle.”

“My husband and I sold everything we had to afford the journey.”

“There is no security in Baghdad. We lived in constant fear.”

“ISIS looks for any reason to punish you.”

“The extent to which refugee children have been conditioned by their environment is heartbreaking.”

“A friend called me at work and told me that a sniper had shot my youngest brother.”

“I’m working as an interpreter. I know what these people are going through. “

“I worked as a waiter in Saudi Arabia for seven years to save money so that I could build a house in Syria.”

“I saw the army burn my neighbor’s house. They set it on fire and took photographs while it burned.”

“Every month we had to go to Baghdad to get my son’s eyes treated.”

“Before leaving for Europe, I went back to Syria to see my family once more.”

Adam Parks https://apollocreativeco.com