13 Powerful Refugee Stories From Around

The World
Refugee Rights
JUN 20, 2022
by Miranda Cleland

S H A R E : They are as young as 7 and as old as 75. Some have recently fled their
homes, while others have been displaced for decades. Take a moment to meet 13
courageous refugees, who have overcome unthinkable situations around the
world.

Alia
Alia fled her home in Aleppo, Syria
and is currently living in Damour,
Lebanon. She shared her story
through Gruppo Aleimar, an Italian
NGO which provides free nutritious
meals to refugees in the Damour
area. Alia is 7 years old.
“The last thing I remember of Syria, before we left, was when my mother
was taking me from our place to our grandparents’. The roads were full of
dead corpses. I saw dead people with no heads or no hands or legs. I was
so shocked I couldn’t stop crying. To calm me down, my grandfather told
me they were mean people, but I still prayed for them, because even if
some considered them mean, they were still dead human beings.
Back at home, I left a friend in Syria, her name was Rou’a. I miss her a lot
and I miss going to school with her. I used to play with her with my Atari
but I couldn’t bring it with me. I also used to have pigeons—one of them
had eggs. I would feed them and care for them. I’m worried about them, I
really pray someone is still caring for them. But here I have a small kitten
that I really love! I miss my home a lot. I hope one day we’ll be back and
things will be just like before.”

Bizimana
Bizimana fled his home in Rwanda
and is now living in Nairobi, Kenya.
His story was shared with us
by Refugees International Japan,
which focuses on the health,
education and economic livelihoods of people displaced by conflict around
the world.
Bizimana was 2 years old when his family had to flee the Rwandan
genocide to Burundi. From there he moved to camps in Tanzania and now
lives in Nairobi, Kenya. He received business start-up training and has
established a business that has grown so fast he is now able to start a
cafe service. He is also a prize-winning singer.

Wictoria + Vova + Sasha

Wictoria, Vova, and their son,
Sasha, fled their home in Kyiv,
Ukraine. Their story was shared
with us by the Doctor Piotr
Janaszek PAY IT FORWARD
Foundation, which provides
physiotherapy and life training
for refugees with disabilities who
had to leave Ukraine for Poland
due to the war.
“We are from around Kyiv. When the war broke out, we were not only afraid
of bombings, we knew that the only way for our son to function normally
was to go to Poland, where doctors were always available,” Wiktoria
recalled.
Their son, Sasha, has just turned 15. Since he was 2 years old, he has been
moving in a wheelchair. He suffers from SMA (spinal muscular atrophy). He
is a bright boy who is interested in everything related to the Internet. He is
studying remotely in a Ukrainian school and will soon have a well-deserved
vacation.
“When the war broke out, we didn’t think long. We quickly packed our bags
and moved to Poland, knowing that good people there would help us start a
new life,” Vova said.
They escaped from Ukraine during the heaviest shooting. The journey to
Poland took four days.
“There is no place on Earth we cannot leave to make our son’s life easier.
We were able to take a few pictures from our home in Ukraine, the rest is
in our hearts and heads,” Wiktoria said.

Yara
Yara fled her home in Syria and is
currently living in Tripoli, Lebanon. Her
story was shared with us by Concern Worldwide, which works with
displaced persons inside Syria and with refugees and vulnerable host
families in Lebanon and Turkey to meet basic needs, improve access to
health care, and provide psychosocial support.
Yara has loved sewing since she was a child. “My mother taught me when I
was a young girl and said it would always be a useful skill,” she said. “I
never imagined that one day it would come to mean so much, and provide
me with a small income.” Originally from Syria, Yara studied embroidery at
a self-help group in Tripoli, Lebanon, run by Concern Worldwide’s local
partners. She attended workshops for two hours a day and was able to
leave her younger children at a partner-run kindergarten.
“Embroidery is a new skill for me,” she said. “There is so much to learn,
and every day we do something different. The main thing is that it occupies
my mind and it stops me from thinking too much. Using my hands and
creating something beautiful calms me. The lady who teaches the
embroidery class is like a mother figure for us.” Yara has been living in
Lebanon with her five children and husband for the past two years. “We
were a close-knit family, but we had to flee Syria,” she explained. Her
parents and one of her sisters were in a refugee camp in Jordan, and two
sisters are still in Syria. “I worry about them every day.”

Sabri
Sabri fled his home in Aleppo, Syria
and is currently living in Paiania,
Greece. Sabri shared his story with
us through Emfasis, a Greek
organization responding to the needs
of Syrian refugees in Greece and
implementing a photography project
to help Syrian children address
psychological problems. Sabri is 16 years old.
“I am currently staying at a guesthouse for minors and families in Paiania,
just outside Athens, Greece with my family. I’d like to go to Germany. We
already know my family and I were granted permission to relocate to a
German city. We are hoping to start
a new page in our lives. I wish I
could make people love each other—
that is my dream.”

Achan
Achan fled her home in Pajok, South Sudan and is currently living in a
refugee camp in Lamwo District, Uganda. Her story was shared with us
by Hope Ofiriha, a Norwegian NGO that assists South Sudanese refugees
with medical care, microfinance, and education. She is 75 years old.
Achan is a widow who had eight children. Seven of her children died during
the ongoing war in her home country of South Sudan. As a result, she was
left with many orphans to take care of. Before the war, she was a peasant
farmer in Sudan who cultivated to sustain her big family. When the war
broke out in her community, she and her family ran to save their lives,
leaving all their belongings behind. She believes her home has been
destroyed by the rebels.

Shahid
Shahid fled his home in Aleppo, Syria
and is currently living is living in an
abandoned factory with his wife and
other families in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.
He shared his story with us
through Global Hope Network
International, which provides financial
assistance to families fleeing the
conflict in Syria.
“We hid ourselves on the mountain for about eight nights. From the
mountain, we saw a battle between [the violent group] and the PKK
(Kurdish forces), who fought very courageously. After the sun set, we went
to them. They treated us with much respect and took us to a place where
there were lots of Yazidis and gave us food. Thus, after eight days of
walking between the Iraq and Syrian borders, they helped us reach a quiet
region in Northern Iraq. From there, we drove to Sulaymaniyah City.”

Shafaq
Shafaq fled her home in Dera’a, Syria
and is currently living with her family
in Bekaa, Lebanon. She shared her
story with us through the Middle East
Children’s Alliance, which provides
emergency support to newly arrived
refugees in Lebanon. Shafaq is 14
years old.
“I used to have a peaceful life and live in my amazing home in Dera’a. I
enjoyed the nature around my house and the food coming from the land. I
woke up every morning to the sound of birds singing. The brutality of the
civil war forced my family to leave this house and to start the journey to be
refugees.
“Since the start of our journey, we moved a lot in Lebanon, and I attended
different schools. In the end, my family decided to go close to the border
with Syria. We came to this area because just we want to survive. My
father is working as an electrician and this is the only income for our
family. All of my family we are living in a tiny house with one bedroom, a
small kitchen, and a bathroom. We are considered illegal because we don’t
have official documents.
“I am behind two years in school because of moving from one school to
another. I am still doing very good in my school, and I will continue to do
that. I want to finish my education to help my family, and to help other
people who want to learn. I consider myself lucky to have Al Jalil Center. I
got a lot of educational, emotional, and psychological support. I am also
really sad because of the unknown future waiting for me. Every day I
wonder where I will be tomorrow. Yes, it’s an unknown future.”

Fouzia
Fouzia fled her home in Kabul,
Afghanistan, lived for 14 years in
Tajikistan, and has recently returned
to Kabul. She shared her story with
us through Aid Afghanistan for
Education, which works to unlock the
potential of young marginalized
Afghans, including former refugees
and child brides, through education as a means to prepare them to fully
participate in society. Fouzia is 24 years old.
“During the factional war, my family and I left the country as it became
unbearable to live in Kabul. Hundreds, or I think thousands, of rockets
were hitting the city every day. We left for Tajikistan and came back when
we heard there is peace in Afghanistan. We lived in Tajikistan for 14 years
with the hope of going back home. Tajikistan was not our country.” Fouzia
wants to be a teacher to help spread peace through education in
Afghanistan. For her safety, we did not share her photo, but rather another
photo from AAE’s school.
Qais + Daewood
Qais and Daewood fled their homes in
Afghanistan and are currently living
in Oinofyta refugee camp in Greece.
Their stories were shared with us
by Do Your Part, a volunteer
organization that supports the
Oinofyta refugee camp and its
residents in Greece.
They are now running a sewing business in Oinofyta refugee camp! They
hope to be granted asylum in Greece so that they can raise their families in
safety.

Abdul
Abdul fled his home in Homs, Syria
and is now living in Amman, Jordan.
His story was shared with us
by International Humanistic
Psychology Association, which is
providing psychosocial support to
Syrian refugee children living in
Jordan by conducting disaster
healthcare field clinics and training local therapists.
Abdul now lives in an apartment building with forty female head of
household refugee families in Amman. His father was killed in Syria. He has
been seen a number of times in the psychosocial clinic run within the
apartment building. Staff from International Humanistic Psychology
Association visited his school because of his complaints of being bullied by
one particular student.
He couldn’t believe they would come to try to help him as he had tried with
the school teacher and felt unheard. He said it was one of the best things
that had happened to him since they came to Jordan. Abdul hopes to drive
buses, likes to help others, and loves soccer.

Bara’a
Bara’a and her family fled their home
in Syria and are currently living with
her three children in a refugee camp
in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Her story
was shared with us by Global One, which supports mothers and children
through hygiene and health supplies as well as training local women as
midwives to support long-term development.
Bara’a still experiences trauma surrounding the birth of her youngest child,
Rouba, four years ago. Her hands shake as she recalls the memory. Unable
to breastfeed her daughter due to mental exhaustion, Bara’a had to rely on
donations to buy formula milk to feed Rouba. Once the donations ran out
after a week, Bara’a had no choice but to feed her newborn a mixture of
sugar and water.
Alongside this, she had to take out loans to provide nappies for all of her
children, who still wet themselves due to mental trauma. The uncertainty
of their future makes life even more difficult for Bara’a, but she’s still
hopeful: “My only dream is to send my children to school.”

Noorkin + Yacob
Noorkin and her son Yacob fled their
home in Myanmar when Myanmar’s
military and Buddhist extremist
groups started clearance operations
against Rohingya people. They are
Rohingya refugees currently living in
the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in
Bangladesh. Their story was shared
with us by World Vision. Noorkin is 40 years old and Yacob is 10.
“Back in Myanmar my father was a farmer and he also went fishing. Along
with my siblings, I used to attend school regularly. I was in Grade 2 when
we left. We used to learn Burmese literature in school. But it all came to an
end the day our house got burnt. The houses in our village were on fire. We
couldn’t run to the jungle because it was on fire, too. We fled to another
village but that village was also attacked. We were stranded so we fled
again to a canal and stayed there for two days with no food. We made it
across the border and now we live here in the camps,” Yacob explained.
He continued: “I like being a leader. At the centre, I get the children
together and them ask them to follow me when I am doing the actions. I
tell them ‘Please, I am going to start reciting the poem, so follow me.’ I am
a good boy and a quick learner. I also make other children laugh. It is fun. I
want to learn more and more because I want to become a teacher when I
grow up.”
“They are slowly getting back to feeling normal again,” Noorkin said about
her children. “I desire a bright future for my children where they can be
what they want to be.”
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