Greece
The Kurds of Idomeni
With tear gas the Macedonian police and refugees prevented from entering the country of Greece. There is arrived at the border town of Idomeni some peace. Marianna Karakoulaki reported.
“Come again,” says Emilio’s Dounias of médecins Sans Frontières. At the Moment, about 10,000, live in a camp, which is actually intended only for 3000 people. Idomeni has become a kind of middle Eastern Bazaar, where you can meet people from everywhere. Especially, the number of Kurds is rising quickly.
Sami, a 24-year-old architecture student who comes from Aleppo. He is with his three-member family. Because of the terrorist militia “Islamic state” (IS) he decided to leave Syria. “I fled for religious reasons. One day, the IS came and threatened us not to kill, because we believe in God. Since this is the only escape we had,” he says.
Sami loves his hometown, he didn’t want to leave you actually, and wish he could continue his / her studies. “I don’t know if I will continue studying. I hope that one day it will be possible. My family and I just want to survive.”
Asked whether he will ever return to Syria when the war is over, he says with passion and safety in the voice: “In any case! My country is beautiful. I want to build my life again. Before the war, I had a good life in Syria. Now I live for the first Time in a tent.”
The Kurd Sami fled from Aleppo, because it IS his family threatened
In search of a better life
In Idomeni Sami has also made the Baidar and Achmed. All three of them come from Aleppo and have become friends. Baidar and Achmed already knew each other for more than ten years. Both studied Economics, Baidar in Gaziantep in Turkey, Ahmed in Aleppo.
“I want to continue my studies and then a Master’s degree in England or Germany – perhaps,” says the 25-year-old Ahmed. “We have remained three years in Aleppo, but the war in Syria is not yet finished. We have decided to go to Europe to find a better life,” said Baidar, 24.
In spite of the terrible conditions in Idomeni Baidar and Achmed think positively. Even if you are sitting on the Greek side of the border and in the tent life. “I think everything in the camp is very good. We live here together in a confined space, but that’s okay.” You have only a Problem: “Because so many live together, is not enough food for all,” said Achmed. “And a shower I could use, too,” jokes the Baidar. “But I still want to say something: Thank you Greece, for everything,” adds Ahmed.
Barber Osman in front of his “hairdresser Salon”
The art of improvisation and entrepreneurship
A few meters further on a hand-written sign in Arabic, “the hairdresser”. Some men stand in front of it. “Come here,” says one of them, smiling, “look, here is a Barber, he can cut your hair if You want.”
Is meant Osman, a 31-year-old Kurd. He is also from Aleppo. In front of one of the large tents in the camp of Idomeni, he opened a makeshift hair salon, and offers his services. Refugees, aid workers, journalists, and anyone else who comes along, to its customers. As a passionate craftsman, he brought his sparse equipment from Aleppo: a pair of scissors, a comb and an electric hair cutting machine.”Unfortunately, there are but in the camp no reliable power supply,” he says.
“I had to give up my house and my Shop because of the war, because of the IS, Bashar al-Assad, the al-Nusra….” He hopes to open in Germany a hairdresser. “My whole family is already there,” says Osman.
Also, if the living conditions in Idomeni deteriorate continuously, because more and more people arrive, there is still hope. The people smile. And the Kurds seem to be the most peaceful and hopeful among them.
“Everyone has seen what happened here on the border, but we only have ourselves to blame,” says Sami. He refers to the clashes between refugees and the Macedonian police. “When they started to throw stones, it was expected that the border police officers use tear gas. I’ve been talking to our people, you should remain calm, but you have not listened to me.”
The courage he can due to the escalation on the last Monday but did not take. “Eventually, we will come across the border, we know not when.”