What is your dream? We asked this question to ten refugees in Greece. To men and women that risked their lives in order to build a new future. The answers to this question were given with silence and grief most of the times.
I also had many dreams. When my family decided to move to Europe, I was thinking that my dreams would come true. My dream was to live in peace and security, to be able to continue my education and have an identity. I wanted to live without fear like people who live in peaceful countries. But it seems that the European policy doesn’t perceive Afghans the same way as refugees from other war zone countries. Some EU countries even start to deport Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan. This is something that makes us to lose hope about our futures and our dreams. We don’t know what is going to happen to us. We live in uncertainty every day. Life is difficult and we are exhausted. We are deeply concerned about our future.
When I see my parents getting older and more grey hair show up on their heads, I feel broken and defeated. It looks like world doesn’t understand us.
But I still have a dream. My dream is a peaceful world without borders.
What is my dream? It is very difficult to answer this question at the moment. We had dreams and specific plans in our lives. We left our homeland and migrated to Europe to ‘meet our wishes’. We hoped to live a life in peace, to find security, get an education, and have our identity. We dreamt, we set goals, and we moved away from our country to build our future. But I want to tell you about our wishes that turned into an illusion, about our ambitions that turned into suffering. I want to write about endless, painful days that pass one after another as we are getting far from our dreams day by day. Our heart broke, life is difficult, the past is troubling us. The future is unclear. We are tired of pretending that everything is OK. Nobody understands our hopelessness, our broken heart and emotions, our loneliness and our deprivation.
I make wishes for my oppressed countrymen and all refugees in the world and I have asked several people here at the Schisto camp, what are their wishes?
Najmeh: I wish to have a new identity, an identity that will give me the possibility to move on in my life and reach my dreams. I wish to live in a world without war and blood, I wish to see a world without refugees and barbed wires. I wish for a free world without borders.
Khatereh, 30 years old: I wish that nothing bad happens to my family and my children as we will be moving toward Serbia.
Nasimeh, 47 years old: I wish to see my children find their own destination, to see their life in prosperity and success.
Romina, 27 years old: I wish we could reach Germany as soon as possible and start building our new life there.
Sediqeh: I wish to see my husband soon.
Zari, 30 years old: I wish to have a peaceful life and get out of the present situation soon.
Fatemeh, 29 years old: I wish to see my separated family together once again.
Samira, 16 years old: I wish to have a peaceful life and a happy family always.
Faranghis, 16 years old: I wish to be rich enough not to need nobody’s help.
Nasimeh, 25 years old: I wish my sick daughter could get well soon and I could see her healthy and happy again.
Yaganeh, 11 years old: I wish that borders would open again for all refugees.
Rohullah, 14 years old: I wish to see my family reunited again.
Hamed, 21 years old: I wish to be a famous volleyball player.
Mohammad: I wish that peace and security would return in my country and that one day we could go back there.
Mohammad Reza, 18 years old: I wish to be a famous football player and see my family reunited once again.
All refugees gathered here, have a mutual ambition, no matter their sex and age. They wish to see these difficult days come to an end, and they hope they could start a new life in a safe and peaceful country.
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