Sherzen is a 12 year old boy. He arrived from Damascus 4 years ago.
"My life in Damascus was better because we had a car and a pool." His father, an entrepreneur and mason, now helps build homes in the camp. Sherzen lives in Arbat Camp with both parents, one brother and 3 sisters who attend the University of Sulaymaniyah. He also has two brothers in Germany, ages 23 and 19. The older brother fled on foot four years ago, and the younger one left 2 years ago by boat. They were in refugee camps at first, but have since moved to government housing, in Hamburg and Berlin. The older one works in a supermarket, and the younger one studies German. Sherzen communicates with them via internet. He would like to return to Syria, as his house survived destruction, but the neighborhood is still dangerous due to land mines. His Grandmother is in Switzerland with her older son. Sherzen's aunt also lived in Arbat camp with her husband and son. Two years ago she decided to leave for Europe by boat, and send money so her husband and son would join her by plane. She knew how to swim, but there was a storm, the boat capsized and she was drowned, at 22 years old. In January 2019, Sherzen committed suicide in Arbat Camp. God bless his soul. |
Raghdad Ali Faklah is from Damascus, of Arab origin, while most Arbat refugees are Syrian Kurds. She saw her father killed by ISIS. Her mother secretly left Syria for Germany. Aware of the risks of the trip, she chose to leave Raghdad and her brother with their grandmother, who brought them to Arbat camp in 2013.
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Ralef is 14 years old. He arrived at the camp with both parents and his sister. His two older brothers are ceramicists working in Dukan, 80 miles away from Arbat camp, because their father suffers from an eye condition and is unemployed. They came from Darik, a small city called al-Malakiyah in Arabic, located in the northeastern corner of Syria, close to Turkish and Iraqi borders, and arrived in 2013.
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Diana Morad is 17, and comes from Qamishli, on the border with Turkey. She is the oldest of 6 children, five girls and one boy. Her father was a businessman, selling grain. They lived in a big home and had a car.
Now her father is a gardener at the camp community center. Her mother, having studied French at the University of Damas, writes stories and poems, and raises her daughters to become free and independent. Her parents are worrying for the education and the future of their six children. |
Youssef is 8 years old, from a family with five children, and they arrived at the camp in 2013. His father is a YPG (Syrian Peshmerga).
Advancing with 47 other YPG during an attack against ISIS in Syria, gunshots suddenly rang out from nowhere, and 42 YPG were killed in a matter of seconds. He had never experienced anything like it. "ISIS is very dangerous," he said. Youssef's father survived but a bullet exploded in his leg, shattering 3 inches of his femur. He underwent eleven surgeries but still cannot walk and suffers particularly at night. He must keep his leg horizontal, and tends to a grocery store in the camp with his wife. |
The Butterfly of Colors |
Le papillon des couleurs |