We do know how important it is to give the voice back to the people on the move themselves.
Some individuals we encounter are very open to tell their stories and sometimes we’re able to publish them. Sometimes not. Oftentimes though, due to specifics of the environment in which we meet, there is no space and time to sit and talk for longer. Some people also simply prefer to forget.
Nevertheless, here you can read few testimonies, stories of the people that we’ve met on the polish-belarussian border.
The story of a Daesh victim, who Polish state forces didn’t help and instead deported to Belarus twice.
When ISIS came to Sinjar in 2014, they also came to our village and wanted to capture us. Some people were fighting.
We had a small car that my family drove to the mountains. I stayed with my brother because there was not enough space. We started on foot to the mountains, but we didn’t make it there then, ISIS captured us, they wanted to kill us all.
They bombed our houses. We escaped. However, ISIS caught me again. I was in captivity for 10 days. Finally, I managed to escape to the mountains. We lived there in tents for 4 years, and since the government wasn’t planning to help us anyway, we decided to go back to our home.
I went with my father and brothers. When I opened the door first, a bomb left there by ISIS exploded in our house. I survived and was taken to hospital. My family returned to the mountains, after all there was no way we could live in our village.
Because the bomb hurt my leg badly, my family decided to send me to Europe to be cured and live there. They sold this piece of land and a small car. I tried to get to Europe legally, to get a visa, but it was not possible, so I decided to go this way, on foot.
It didn’t matter to me if I died on that journey, because I might as well have died in Iraq.
My journey started like this… I flew from Iraq to Syria and then from Syria to Belarus. The police from Belarus caught us in Minsk, took us to the border and said we had to go to Poland. I didn’t want to go, but the policemen pulled out their guns and said they would kill us if we didn’t move, so we had to cross the border.
We tried 2 times to get into Poland, but the soldiers pushed us back to the border. The third time, the police caught us already near the German border and took us to a closed camp, where I stayed for 35 days. The conditions there are very different, but difficult. I don’t think I deserve to be kept in such a place. Then they brought me to an open place because of my health condition.
In Iraq I started to suffer from depression due to our situation. So I took up the fight for a better life. However, I was caught and taken to a closed camp. There are many places in Iraq that may seem quite safe, such as Kurdistan, but our place – Sinjar – there is no life there. People in Sinjar are being killed every day, it is extremely dangerous there. I wish someone could help them, because these people just want to live in peace and follow their religion.
I have reached the point where I am running out of tears to cry. Many of my neighbours, family, friends, children have died. And we have seen it all…
This was not the first time ISIS did this to us. This is the 74th time they have done this to us because we follow a different religion.
(ed. – This number is not an accurate count of attacks on Yezidis. In Yisidic mythology the number 72 means the whole, everything. The term ’72 Ferman’ used by the Yezidis means the totality of persecution, 72 genocides. To the number 72, more are often added; the Sinjar genocide of 2014 is “counted” as the 74th)
But we don’t want anything: no oil, no new country…
We just want to live, and they are taking away our humanity and not allowing us to exist. Now I just want them to accept our existence so that I can live among my people.
Sinjar (Shengal/Sinjar/Şengal) is a region in northwestern Iraq; the so-called Iraqi homeland of the Yezidis.
On 3 August 2014, ISIS/Daesh committed genocide against the Yezidis in Sinjar. Tens of thousands were killed, tens of thousands more became internal migrants, thousands were taken captive, women also into sexual slavery, many children were abducted (young boys especially to receive military training in ISIS camps).
Since then Sinjar, despite the gradual recapture of the region from the hands of Daesh by Yezidi and Kurdish self-defence forces (HPG and YJA-STAR, YPG and YPJ units), has been continuously attacked by Turkey (also as early as 2022). The Turkish state uses as a pretext the fight against terrorism, for which it considers the existence of the Sinjar self-defence units. Realistically, this is the realisation of Turkey’s imperialist inclinations – the desire to have Sinjar under control. These actions also actively support ISIS and its dormant or isolated cells in the region. And all this in the absence of a NATO response.
A series of bombing raids, the assassination of members of the Sinjar self-defence forces, drone attacks, the murder of people who embody the ideas of democratic confederalism, the destruction of homes or hospitals… These are the realities of the Sinjar region. This makes it impossible for the inhabitants to return home. It is also from the mountains and refugee camps there that the Yezidis decide to make their way to Europe.
POLSKI
Ludzie doświadczeni działaniami wojennymi szukają schronienia w Polsce nie od dziś. Przedstawiamy historię ofiary Daesh, której polskie służby nie udzieliły pomocy.
Zamiast tego dwukrotnie wywiozły ją na Białoruś.
Kiedy ISIS przybyło do Sindżar w 2014 roku, przyszli też do naszej wioski i chcieli nas pojmać. Niektórzy ludzie walczyli.
Mieliśmy mały samochód, którym moja rodzina pojechała w góry. Ja zostałem z bratem, bo nie było wystarczająco dużo miejsca. Ruszyliśmy pieszo w góry, jednak nie udało nam się tam wtedy dotrzeć, pojmało nas ISIS, chcieli nas wszystkich zabić.
Bombardowali nasze domy. Uciekliśmy. Jednak ISIS znowu mnie złapało. Byłem w niewoli 10 dni. W końcu udało mi się uciec w góry.
Mieszkaliśmy tam w namiotach 4 lata, a ponieważ rząd i tak nie planował nam pomóc, postanowiliśmy wrócić do swojego domu.Poszedłem z ojcem i braćmi. Kiedy otworzyłem jako pierwszy drzwi, w naszym domu wybuchła bomba zostawiona tam przez ISIS. Przeżyłem, trafiłem do szpitala. Moja rodzina wróciła w góry, nie było przecież możliwości mieszkać w naszej wiosce.
Ponieważ bomba zraniła dotkliwie moją nogę, rodzina postanowiła wysłać mnie do Europy, abym ją wyleczył i tam zamieszkał. Sprzedała ten kawałek ziemi i mały samochód. Próbowałem dostać się do Europy legalnie, załatwić wizę, ale nie było takiej możliwości, więc zdecydowałem się pójść tą drogą, na piechotę.
Nie było dla mnie ważne czy umrę podczas tej podróży, bo równie dobrze mógłbym umrzeć w Iraku.
Moja podróż zaczęła się w ten sposób… Poleciałem z Iraku do Syrii, a potem z Syrii na Białoruś. Policja z Białorusi złapała nas w Mińsku, zawiozła na granicę i powiedziała, że musimy iść do Polski. Nie chciałem iść, ale policjanci wyciągneli broń i powiedzieli, że nas zabiją, jeśli nie ruszymy, więc musieliśmy przekroczyć granicę.
Próbowaliśmy 2 razy przedostać się do Polski, ale żołnierze spychali nas z powrotem do granicy. Za trzecim razem policja złapała nas już w pobliżu granicy niemieckiej i zabrała do obozu zamkniętego, gdzie przebywałem 35 dni. Warunki tam panujące są bardzo różne, ale trudne. Myślę, że nie zasługuję na to, by trzymać mnie w takim miejscu. Potem przywieźli mnie do miejsca otwartego z powodu mojego stanu zdrowia.
W Iraku zacząłem cierpieć na depresję spowodowaną naszą sytuacją. Dlatego podjąłem walkę o lepsze życie. Zostałem jednak złapany i przewieziony do zamkniętego obozu. Jest wiele miejsc w Iraku, które mogą wydawać się dość bezpieczne, jak na przykład Kurdystan, ale nasze miejsce – Sindżar – tam nie ma życia. Ludzie w Sindżar są codziennie zabijani, jest tam skrajnie niebezpiecznie. Chciałbym, żeby ktoś mógł im pomóc, bo ci ludzie chcą po prostu żyć w pokoju i wyznawać swoją religię.
Dotarłem do momentu, w którym brakuje mi już łez, żeby płakać. Wielu moich sąsiadów, rodziny, przyjaciół, dzieci zginęło. I my widzieliśmy to wszystko…
To nie był pierwszy raz, kiedy ISIS nam to zrobiło. To już 74-ty raz, kiedy nam to robią, ponieważ wyznajemy inną religię.
( przyp.red. – liczba ta nie jest dokładnym wyliczeniem ataków na Jezydów. W mitologii jezydzkiej liczba 72 oznacza całość, wszystko. Termin „72 Ferman” stosowany przez Jezydów oznacza całokształt prześladowań, 72 ludobójstwa. Do liczby 72, często dodawane są kolejne; ludobójstwo w Sindżar z 2014 „liczone” jest jako 74-te )Ale my nie chcemy niczego: żadnej ropy, żadnego nowego kraju…
Chcemy tylko żyć, a oni odbierają nam nasze człowieczeństwo i nie pozwalają nam istnieć. Teraz chciałbym tylko, żeby zaakceptowali nasze istnienie, żebym mógł żyć między moimi ludźmi.
Sindżar (Szengal/Sinjar/Şengal) to region w północno-zachodnim Iraku; tak zwana iracka ojczyzna Jezydów.
3 sierpnia 2014 roku w Sindżar ISIS/Daesh dokonało ludobójstwa na Jezydach. Dziesiątki tysięcy osób zostało zabitych, kolejne dziesiątki tysięcy zostało migrantami wewnętrznymi, tysiące zostało wziętych do niewoli, kobiety także do niewoli seksualnej, wiele dzieci uprowadzono (młodych chłopców szczególnie do odbycia szkoleń militarnych w obozach ISIS).
Od tamtego czasu Sindżar, mimo stopniowego odbijania tego regionu z rąk Daesh przez Jezydów i kurdyjskie siły samoobrony (oddziały HPG i YJA-STAR, YPG i YPJ), jest nieustannie atakowany przez Turcję (także już 2022 roku). Państwo tureckie jako pretekstu używa walki z terroryzmem, za który uznaje istnienie jednostek samoobrony Sindżar.
Realnie jest to urzeczywistnienie imperialistycznych tureckich zapędów – chęć posiadania Sindżar pod kontrolą. Działania te aktywnie wspierają także ISIS i jego uśpione lub działające pojedynczo w tamtym regionie komórki. A to wszystko przy braku reakcji NATO.
Serie nalotów bombowych, zabójstwa członków sił samoobrony Sinjar, ataki dronami, zabójstwa osób wcielających w życie idee demokratycznego konfederalizmu, niszczenie domów czy szpitali… To realia regionu Sindżar. Uniemożliwia to mieszkańcom powrót do domu. To także właśnie z tamtejszych gór i obozów dla uchodźców Jezydzi decydują się na drogę do Europy.
M’s story – a person who went through hell in the Polish-Belarusian borderland
I met M during a German course in Berlin. I heard his story in bits and pieces when we met to study before an exam, or when we returned from a course – I went home, he to the camp. I fell in love with this story, even though it’s by no means unique; not as dramatic as reports in the Polish liberal-left media, sometimes too close to stereotypical representations of economic migration popularised on the right of the political scene. Sometimes even difficult to understand (‘why did he leave?’, ‘does he finally regret it or not?’), somehow not deep enough, ordinary. Is it even appropriate to fall in love with an escape story?
But I needed just such a story, about a person who left a country where there was war, where life was hard, but you lived it somehow. About a person who had the right to leave, for whatever reason, and who risked a lot to do so. About a person who did not die in the Białowieża Forest, who did not end up in a hospital or a guarded centre in Poland. I want to make room for such stories in our hearts and in our media.
In 2018, I finished my bachelor’s degree in dentistry, and during my master’s degree, I opened my own clinic.
A revolution against the regime began in Dera, people from there supported the FSA (Free Syrian Army), and in the north there is great support for the government. My family wasn’t involved in the fighting, but that doesn’t mean no one suspects you or hates you.
The clinic functioned well, but soldiers from a nearby checkpoint came with rifles, asked if I was cooperating with the government, and expected free treatment. It was becoming increasingly difficult for me to study.I hated life in Iraq, but I couldn’t go back to Syria. I had the opportunity to go to the emirates, my uncle wanted to help me, but I didn’t take it. I was fed up with living in Arab countries, I started looking for opportunities to go to Europe legally. I had already thought about doctoral studies. Western European countries were not possible, I had no chance of getting a visa.
My brother and I explored various options. The Balkan Trail costs $12,000 and I didn’t know anyone who could do it.
I found an option via Belarus. The official Syrian tourist agency charged us $4,000 each for an invitation, a tourist visa for a month, plane tickets and a hotel. The family paid, our parents knew about our plan, they obviously want a better life for us.
An agent was waiting for us at the airport in Minsk, he took us to a hotel, we were supposed to stay there for one night and contact someone who would help us get to Germany safely.
The next day they kicked us out and told us to go, they said that after 7 kilometers someone would pick us up.
I saw scenes like from a horror movie, a person in a coma, an Egyptian boy begging the soldiers to let him go home. The Polish border guard took his SIM card, power bank and shoes, set him with a dog, and he was still wearing torn jeans. The guy from Syria was grateful when they caught him the third time, otherwise he would have died in the forest, he had no phone. When I listened to these stories, I was really scared and realized that we could die there.
I spent a total of 4 days in the forest, the worst was towards the end, we had no water left and we were losing hope. Helicopters overhead, no signal on the phone or another pin from a smuggler. The van driver who finally showed up, drove fast, turned around, and after an hour told us to get out, said that the police were following us and that we were f**ked up.A journalist came, did a short interview with us, gave us blankets, water, cigarettes, saved us, but we were still in the forest. Ultimately, the Turkish insurance office found a man who took all 9 people directly to Germany.
In Berlin we started the procedure, they transferred us between camps, and after half a year I received international protection status. I could register at the employment office and start learning German. Previously, I lived on refugee benefits – EUR 150.
Now I have to pass the German exam at level C1, then another medical exam and have my education officially recognized. I’m optimistic. I don’t know if I want to stay here forever, but for now I do. There are good and bad people everywhere, but German society is closed, all my friends are those who came from somewhere else. I only regret it sometimes, mainly when I experience racism. This is not the Europe I dreamed of, maybe not completely free from racism, but one where there are rules and where I am not judged for my appearance.
It was a good decision, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work, I want to continue learning and show that I can do good things. If we don’t do good, we are not human. Most people like me who come here need help. I would like to help others.