Refugees-Part 3: Their Stories

"There is no greater sorrow on earth, than the loss of one's native land." Euripedes, 431 B.C.

There are over 42 million forcefully displaced people worldwide. 16 million are refugees or asylum seekers. Many of them live near you. Their stories are similar. They have left people behind. The have left behind family members (some dead) in war torn countries, starving relatives in famine, desperate friends in economic despair, and loved ones who are persecuted for their race or their religion. They have risked their lives and traveled through many hardships to escape. They have often been turned back at the border without any inquiry into their situation. Many have spent years in "detention centers" only to be sent back home.

Here are some of their stories as published at: http://www.ecre.org/refugeestories/

Barry fled political persecution in the Democratic Republic of Congo and claimed asylum in Belgium. When his application was refused he was detained with his wife and small baby.

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.

Cleo has lived in Scotland for seven years. she applied for asylum in 2000, but her final appeal was turned down and she is now without status. While she and her family wait for a resolution to their situation, she does her best to remain positive and to contribute to community life in Glasgow.

Hadish fled Eritrea after being imprisoned for campaigning for a democratic constitution. He crossed the Mediterranean sea when he failed to find protection in neighbouring African countries and was detained on arrival in Malta.

Zoja and her children
On the 13th September 2007 the Polish border guards found the bodies of three Chechen girls-aged 6,10 and 13 - who had died in the mountains at the Ukrainian border. The border guards had previously come across Zoja, their exhausted mother, who was clutching a fourth child - a 2-year-old son- and asked them for help. The bodies were found 1,100 m up the mountains along the Polish-Ukrainian frontier, which is now the European Union's eastern border. Zoja went on to explain that they all had spent four days in the cold and the wet. Commenting on the case, a representative of the Polish Helsinki Committee said that the family was probably crossing the border at this particular point in order to apply for asylum in Austria. Yoja subsequently applied for refugee status in Poland. (Source: ECRE East European team, news reports)

*Photo used according to creative commons copyright: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/