The Migrant Diaries. Lynne Jones

The Migrant Diaries

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THE MIGRANT DIARIES

Lynne Jones

Refuge Press, New York, 2020

Published in the United States by The Refuge Press

www.refugepress.com

The Refuge Press shares the registered trademark of The Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation, of which it is a part.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers.

ISBN#13: 978-0-8232-9699-6 (Hard Cover)

ISBN#13: 978-0-8232-9698-9 (Paperback)

ISBN#13: 978-0-8232-9700-9 (ePub)

ISBN#13: 978-0-8232-9701-6 (WebPDF)

Cover and book design: Mauro Sarri

Cover image: Abdullah (age 9)

Printed in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated toall those forced to leave the place they call home.

Acknowledgements

Some of the material in these Diaries was first published in Outside the Asylum: A Memoir of War Disaster and Humanitarian Psychiatry published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2017. I would like to thank them for permission to reuse it. I would like to thank the Lancet and Elsevier for permission to reuse material that appeared in Borderlands, published in July 2017. I am also grateful to the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University for publishing some of these diaries on their website. Thank you to the Rights and Opportunities Foundation for continuously supporting my work in the migrant crises in Europe and Central America. Many other people have helped me in numerous ways.

Thanks to Ahmad Alsalmo; Hiba Alsalmo; Giorgos Anastoulis; Mahmoud Alhossary; Bushra Al Khayat; Dalia Al Sharkawi; Yara Amparo López López; Giorgos Anastoulis; Luis Arriola Vega; Bashar Ayob; Yanira Chica; Maureen Jane Condon; Ed Cotton; Enrique Coraza de los Santos; Mark Cousins; Sebastian Dempf; Caia Fallowfield; Rowan Farrell; Soori Gharedaghi; Cindy Gonzalez Malo; Benoit Grancier; Maddie Harris; Ben Harrison; Housam Jackaly; Daniela Krišová; Eivor Lægreid; Hannah Lindner; Broeder Johannes Maertens; Shizuka Maruta; Elizabet Monzón Gálvez; Tracey Myers; Mohsen Naeem; Dina Prior; Luke Pye;Tom Radcliffe; Phoebe Ramsay; Alex Reyna; Don Rito; Cristina Robledo Cossio; Nour Shehada; Sarah Story; Panagiotis Tzannetakis; Jeffrey Utter; Heather Wurtz. Thanks also to the volunteers and staff in all of the following organisations: L’Auberge des Migrants, France; Refugee Women’s Centre, France; Danish Refugee Council, Greece; Drop in the Ocean, Greece; International Medical Corps, Greece; AccoglieRete, Italy; Caritas, Italy; Terre des Hommes, Italy; Comité Estratégico de Ayuda Humanitaria, Mexico; Help Refugees, UK, France and Greece; Indigo Volunteers, UK.

I would also like to thank the many friends who wish their names to be anonymous, particularly the individuals, children and their families who chose to share their stories. I continue to learn and to be inspired by their courage and grace under pressure. More children’s stories, pictures, and film can be found on the website: migrantchildstorytelling.org. I should emphasize that these are personal diaries, and any mistakes or inaccuracies in the relating of events are my own.

Thanks to Brendan Cahill, at Refuge Press, for his enthusiasm for this book and Johanna Lawton for scrupulous editing and Mauro Sarri for design.

Finally, special thanks to my husband Asmamaw, my companion in so many of these journeys and a constant support in my work.

Introduction

2015

Calais • France, October—November

2016

Calais, Dunkirk • France, February

Ahmed’s Story

Island of Lesvos • Greece, March

Idomeni • Northern Greece, March

Lagkadikia • Northern Greece, Summer

Maria’s Story