Interview by Melisa
On Thursday, the 8th of September 2016, I interviewed a student of our school. His name is Samir and he is 18 years old. Samir is a refugee. He fled from Iran and came to Germany with the hope and faith he can have a better and safer life here. I asked him some questions about his voyage.
That is Samir´s story.
Samir has Afghan roots because originally his parents came from Afghanistan. But they were living in Iran. Samir said Iran people do not like Afghan people a lot. At some point it was kind of normal that the police became violent. Samir saw how they beat his friends and some of his family members. It was a very traumatic experience, he said. Another reason for escaping from Iran was that government did not give them the opportunity to find an accommodation. Samir said that everything went so fast. All of a sudden they had to escape. Unfortunately, he had to do this dangerous voyage without his family, but he met them later in Germany again. He was just able to take the most necessary things with him. He spent the entire voyage by walking on foot, going bycar or sometimes by boat. He crossed many countries like, for example, Turkey, Hungary, Austria etc.
I asked him if he had met people who were going through the same things as him on his journey. He answered with yes but added that he does not know where they are now. He felt his arrival in Germany as a very warm and welcome one. Of course, he notices people sometimes who look at him scared or like they donot feel very secure. But that is okay for him and he kind of understands that. He is just glad that he made it to Germany and said that nowadays people do everything to survive.
Samir has had a lot of bad experiences with police officers. That is why he just wants to mention how thankful he is for the officers in Germany. Contrary to the police in Iran, they treat people with respect and he really appreciates that. After all what he has seen he can´t take this for granted.
Since one year and three months Samir is in Germanynow . I asked him if he has goals he wants to achieve in the future. He said he has a lot things he wants to achieve like graduating school with good grades. But the most important goal for him is to be safe now.
Personal Opinion
After the interview with Samir I really did not know what to say. I could not find the right words to explain how I felt about all of this. I did not even know if there are any words. To be honest, the interview gave me a lot to think about. The question that came into my mind the most was why. Why him? Why not me? Why does this need to happen? Who can we blame for it? Are we supposed to do something even though it is not happening in our own country? Some many questions went through my mind and I can´t find one answer. And somehow I felt guilty. I do not know why but I did. The fact that I have a bed, a house, a smartphone and something to eat and drink every single day without doing anything for it and there are people out there who are losing family members and try their hardest to survive everyday seems just not right. It seems so unfair. The most normal thing in this world full of strange things is to see my mother after school. And to know there are people, kids in my age, who are not able to see their mother for months, years or maybe never again, literally breaks my heart. It is so scary how it feels like we are living on the same planet but not on the same earth. Two completely different worlds.
I know there so many people out there who were and still are going through the same things as Samir. I really wish them all the best of the best and hope the this life full of pain stops soon and that they do not need to waste their time escaping terrified and scared anymore. I mean at the end of the day we are all the same. We want to live, to love, to feel free. Let´s just change the scary fact that the human being´s biggest enemy is the human being itself.
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