ABDUL KARIM ADDO BOUGHT A FERRY TICKET TO ATHENS WITH THE LAST OF HIS MONEY. NOW HE SPENDS THE NIGHT IN OMONOIA SQUARE, WHERE HUNDREDS OF REFUGEES ARRIVE EVERY DAY. HE IS ABLE TO BORROW A TELEPHONE TO CALL HOME TO HIS MOTHER IN SYRIA, BUT HE WILL NOT TELL HER HOW BAD THINGS ARE. “SHE CRIES AND IS SCARED FOR MY SAKE, AND I DON’T WANT TO WORRY HER MORE.” HE UNFOLDS HIS BLANKET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SQUARE AND CURLS UP IN FETAL POSITION. “I DREAM OF TWO THINGS: TO SLEEP IN A BED AGAIN, AND TO HUG MY YOUNGER SISTER.”
© Magnus Wennman © Magnus Wennman
EVERY NIGHT, FATIMA DREAMS THAT SHE’S FALLING FROM A SHIP. SHE FLED FROM THE CITY OF IDLIB, SYRIA, WITH HER MOTHER, MALAKI, AND HER TWO SIBLINGS TO ESCAPE THE TERRIBLE VIOLENCE. AFTER TWO YEARS IN AN INFORMAL SETTLEMENT IN LEBANON, THE SITUATION BECAME UNBEARABLE, AND THEY MADE IT TO LIBYA WHERE THEY BOARDED AN OVERCROWDED BOAT. ON THE DECK OF THE BOAT, A PREGNANT WOMAN GAVE BIRTH TO HER BABY AFTER TWELVE HOURS IN THE SCORCHING SUN. THE BABY WAS STILLBORN, AND WAS THROWN OVERBOARD. FATIMA SAW EVERYTHING. WHEN THE REFUGEES’ BOAT STARTED TO SINK, THEY WERE PICKED UP BY THE ITALIAN COASTGUARD.
LAMAR LEFT HER DOLLS, TOY TRAIN, AND BALL BACK HOME IN BAGHDAD, IRAQ. SHE OFTEN TALKS ABOUT THESE ITEMS WHEN HOME IS MENTIONED. ONE BOMB CHANGED EVERYTHING. HER FAMILY WAS ON ITS WAY TO BUY FOOD WHEN A BOMB WAS DROPPED CLOSE TO THEIR HOUSE. “IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO LIVE THERE ANYMORE,” SAYS LAMAR’S GRANDMOTHER, SARA. AFTER TWO ATTEMPTS TO CROSS THE SEA FROM TURKEY IN A SMALL RUBBER BOAT, THEY HAVE MADE IT TO THE HUNGARIAN BORDER. NOW LAMAR SLEEPS ON A BLANKET IN THE FOREST, SCARED, FROZEN, AND SAD.
© Magnus Wennman
© Magnus Wennman UNHCR / 31
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