Run! Or You Will Die! – Part 3 of 3
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Ameera
“We are going to keep trying. We will make it,” Ameera encourages her daughters and her new son-n-law, though she is not sure she believes it herself. Will we be trapped in Turkey forever? Will I ever see my husband and my two daughters again?
The third time, they are again picked up by the coast guard and taken back to Turkey. How am I supposed to continue to hope? Ameera thinks as she recalls the failed first three attempts. Can the smugglers actually get us across the Aegean Sea to Greece? Will the Turkish coast guard stop having mercy on us and run over our boat like they did another refugee boat last week? How can I subject my daughters to this danger? She turns around just in time to see an explosion in the distance. Knowing tourist attractions have been targets in Turkey, they have been laying low, trying to remain under the radar so as not to draw attention. They have tried to blend in, though with their dialect and accent alerting those around that they are from Aleppo, Syria and are no doubt refugees, it has been difficult. Some refugees are shot by locals as they return from failed attempts across the sea because of steeped hatred for the refugees in Turkey. I have to do this for them because the danger we face staying here is far worse than the dangers of the sea.
“We will try again,” Ameera encourages her family one more time. “We CAN make it!”
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The Trip to Lesvos
This time IS different. They pile into a small black rubber dingy that is made for maybe 20 people. The smugglers load it up with 50 people. Women and children sit in the middle with children on laps while the men sit and stand along the outside, some men on other men’s laps.
Everyone on this boat is from the wealthier class in Syria because they are the only ones who can afford to make the journey at 1800 Euro’s per ticket. This boat is full of dentists, doctors, computer engineers, and one orthopedic surgeon. Waves crashing and water splashing, this four-hour journey seems like an eternity as each person is soaked and freezing to the bone with no way of freeing themselves from the ice cold water. They deal with the cold, looking forward to the hope of landing in Greece and finally finding safety, hopefully without hypothermia.
“We are almost there! Cut a hole in the boat before we make it to shore!” One of the men on the boat yells as another man scrambles to find a knife to slit open the boat. The smugglers told them before leaving Turkey that they have to do this in order to stay on the island of Greece. They told them they could be sent back to Turkey if the boat arrives on the Greek shore in tact.
Roma
“We made it!” Roma exclaims as she climbs out of the boat, trudges through the water, and climbs onto the rocky shore. They all arrive sopping wet on the shore and see a sea of other boats and life jackets strewn across the beach. What she didn’t know is that last year alone, 500,000 other refugees had come through this island of a population of only 84,000. The average number of refugees coming to Lesvos during this time is about 2,000 per day. Some people make the journey. Some do not. Some wash up on shore. Some are found by fishermen. But, Ameera, Nour, Roma, and Issa all made it this day. They are safe and sound.
The UN made an agreement with Turkey and Greece which states that for every Syrian sent back to Turkey, Turkey would release one other Syrian to go to Europe where Europe could voluntarily accept up to 72,000. This means that Europe doesn’t HAVE to accept any of them. They arrived right after the March 20th deadline. A few days before their arrival, the Greek polics moved all of the refugees out of Moria, changing it from a normal refugee camp to a prison for everyone arriving after this date. As the bus drives them to Moria, they are relieved and excited to now be in a safe place, but they have no idea what conditions await them there.
Ameera
“We are going to be ok. We will be here for a few days and then we can continue on and meet your father and sisters in Germany,” Ameera encourages everyone, grasping to a new glimmer of hope now that they have made it into Europe, into Greece. We made it this far, Ameera thinks to herself. We WILL make it to Germany.
Only, they would be there for more than a few days. On day 20 in Moria, I stepped into the lives of this wonderful family.
