Born and raised in Syria, Aleppo, M is only 24 years old and yet has already experienced more hardships in less than a quarter of a century then most people do in a lifetime. Surrounded by immediate danger and economic decline from the continuing conflict in Syria, M was only 16 years old when he left 2012. He is now in Athens, Greece, with his family. This is his story… We decided it was best to go to Turkey, so I walked there from Aleppo, along the borders, with my 2 cousins. I spent 3 months in a refugee camp in Orfa, Turkey. We were not supposed to leave the camp, but the conditions were so bad that I decided to leave and made my way to the city of Ankarra. I went alone, without my cousins. I worked there in a factory for 6 months. There were 15 of us and we slept and worked at the factory, on the factory floor. They would give us a very small amount of money, because we were all refugees. They used us. I was able to find better work making toys for children in a factory. I still slept at the factory, but I had a bed and better wages. In 2016, I snuck back to Syria to marry my now wife. I wanted to go back to Turkey. If I had stayed in Syria, I would have had to hold a weapon and fight, because it is the only way to earn money now. I did not want to fight with people. I did not want to kill anyone. It was much more difficult for Syrians to cross the border back into Turkey this time. I was able to get through, my wife came to me 3 months later. We soon had a baby. We stayed in Turkey together with our two children for 3 years. Turkey gave us ‘temporary protection’, but they never said for how long for. During this time, I was always working at the factory, but we had rented a different place to live, not at the factory. I was always paid a lot less money than the Turkish workers were paid, so I was working all the time to provide for my family. I tried to go into business with a Turkish friend, but when I gave him my half of the money, he ran away with it. I went to the police and tried to take him to court, but they said that I did not have enough evidence. I confronted the man and asked for my money back, but he refused. He wanted to get rid of me, so he called the police and told them lies about me and tried to get my family and I kicked out of the country. It caused many problems for us. Then I realised that my family and I will never be able to live an equal, free, and safe life in Turkey. Especially that the threat of being kicked out and discriminated against would always be there. The local people saw us problems, and blamed their slipping economy on us, (Syrians). Every month, Turkish people would murder Syrians to scare and threaten people to go back to Syria, and they would get away with it. We decided to leave to build a life for us in a safe country. We sold everything except for a few items. The boss I worked for 5 years for, he let us leave some stuff his attic that was to be sent to us when we reached a safe place and found a place to live. But then behind my back, he sold it. We were left with nothing again. My first attempt to get to Greece was in small, very old rowboat with my family and 16 other people, trying to cross the ocean. A Turkish man was steering. My wife turned to me and said that she could feel some water. Then, the boat started to sink from the front, and we all ended up into the water. Only the children had lifejackets, the adults had…. We were rescued by the same group of people who sent our rowboat out and they left us on the beach in Turkey and then called the police so that they do not have to take us back. They did not care what happened after the police were called, they only care about the money. The police took us to a bus station in between cities and just told us to go back to the places where we came from and don’t come back here. We tried again the next day, with different people who put us in a jet boat. There were 17 adults and 9 children, 26 people in total. The person who drove the boat was also a refugee. He had never driven a speed boat, or any boat, before – but they gave him a free ride if he did the driving for us. We arrived at Lesbos on the 21st of July, 2019. Some kind people on the beach brought us food, water, blankets, and socks. The Greek police came and got us and took us to the refugee camp, Moria. We were happy and thought that we were in a really good place, finally. But when they took us to Moria, we realised that a new suffering was about to begin. We were in Moria for 6 months. It was so bad there; we were just trying to stay alive. My youngest was always getting sick from the germs there. We were moved to Athens, to another refugee camp. My wife was heavily pregnant and was getting very sick, but there were no doctors at the camp. Eventually the Greek government moved us to a house near a hospital. 10 days later my wife gave birth. We went to register to get asylum for our new baby, and they told us that they will give all of my family a refugee ID. This is good, but it also means that we are no longer supported, and we have to leave our house in 1 months’ time. We have no money and it is really difficult to find work here. We still face discrimination from many people. M spends his days in Athens with his wife and kids, studying different languages and volunteering as a translator with us at our Athens hub, Hope Café, helping other refugees and asylum seekers. “I want to help people. I want a better world for my children to grow up in and for them to feel respected and safe.”
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