Mahdia Hossaini

The body of a child was found in Samos. An unconscious woman laying on the other side. Have we got so used to listening to this kind of news? Under which circumstances are parents willing to throw their children into the sea, where they know there is a considerable possibility of their child’s death?

I know what the parents feel; the sea is safer than their homeland. I know how it feels when there is no other choice. I know, with all my being, that the deceased  child that made the headlines these days embodies also the death of his  parents’ wishes and dreams.

I know that the mother will never look at the sea in the same way ever again and that the father is ashamed; ashamed that his family could not make it to the bright future he promised his child, ashamed that his child would never experience a peaceful existence. A six-year-old child was born in a war and found peace in the blue sea.

I can not just comment on the number of people that are missing. Because that number hides behind it an even larger number of families that are mourning, waiting endlessly for something; news from their loved ones either of joy or struggle. This anticipation can takeminutes or hours, months or years.

According to some news sources, the boy’s father has been found and the police arrested him for endangering his son’s life. His crime was to seek for a place that can offer  a littlesense of peace for his child’s life. But the question that might  have occurred in the minds of many of us is “where is the mother”?

Exactly 5 years ago, this was my question to an 8-year-old boy, I met on my way to get here. I asked him, “Are you alone?”. He said, “I went on this trip with my parents, but I was able to cross the barbed wire between the Iranian and Turkish borders, but when my family was about to cross it the Iranian police arrived and deported my parents back to Afghanistan. I just had to continue the trip alone”. At this point I would like to say that many of us blame and judge parents who send their children to Europe alone. But we need to know that there is a hidden story behind all this that we are unaware of.

And now the child’s father has been arrested for endangering his child’s life. How strange it is to me that he was treated like a murderer who committed premeditated murder. The father is grieving the death of his child. The decision to emigrate is the hardest decision one has to take and the ultimate solution for the family and the future of his children that a father can provide, when there is no other way for him to follow.

Why was no one arrested for the death of a child who drowned in the sea in front of the Skaramaga camp? Why has no one asked, so far, the reason that a refugee camp issituated so close to the sea, in the farthest corner of the city? Why was no one arrested for the death of a father in the Schisto Camp who was waiting for a family reunion with his son in Germany when his health problems were initially ignored by the Camp Clinic and when they were finally acknowledged the ambulance arrived too late to save his life? And one more question, who would be arrested if a child lost his or her life in the waters around the Karatepe camp when they have to use that water instead of showering orbathing? I can already suspect a new policy! A policy that seeks to repatriate migrants and keep them on Turkey’s shores. Or (I can even suspect another one!) send them back to the country that threatens their lives with a considerable amount of euros for these “third world countries” that would ensure their survival for a period of time.

I wish the migration laws and policies were revised a bit.

مجازات غیر ضروری ۱۷/۱۱/۲۰۲۰

مهدیه حسینی

جسد یک کودک در ساموس پیدا شد. زنی بیهوش کمی آن طرف.  آیا به شنیدن این اخبار عادت کرده ایم؟  تحت چه شرایطی حاضرید فرزندان خود را به دریایی مواج بیندازید در حالی که می دانید احتمال مرگتان وجود دارد؟ فکر کنم

 من می دانم، وقتی پدر یا مادری احساس می کند دریا از وطنشان امن تر است.  وقتی چاره ای ندارند.  من با تمام وجود می دانم که کودک مرده ای که این روزها خبرساز شده به معنای مرگ آرزوهای پدر و مادرش است

من می دانم که کودک مرده یعنی مادری که دیگر هیچوقت نمی تواند به دریا نگاه کند و پدری شرمنده. شرمنده از اینکه نمی‌تواند آینده درخشانی که به فرزندش قول داده بود را واقعیت بخشد. شرمگین است از اینکه فرزندش طعم آرامش و زندگی کردن در صلح را نچشید . کودک شش ساله ای که در بحبوحه جنگ متولد شد و آرامش را در دریای آبی رنگ اژه پیدا کرد . من نمی توانم فقط عددی  بنویسم از تعداد نامعلوم افرادی که در دریا  مفقود شده اند .زیرا تعداد مفقودین یعنی تعداد خانواده هایی که به سوگ عزیزانشان نشسته اند . تعداد مفقودین یعنی تعداد خانواده هایی که باید منتظر عزیزانشان بمانند ،یعنی انتظار و حال این انتظار می تواند ساعتها و روزها باشد یا ماهها و سالها…

 به گفته برخی منابع خبری ، پدر این پسر بچه  پیدا شده و پلیس وی را به جرم به خطر انداختن جان پسرش دستگیر کرده است.  جرم او درخواست کمی آرامش برای زندگی فرزندش بود. اما سوالی که شاید ذهن بسیاری از ما را به خود مشغول کرده این است که مادر او کجاست؟ این شاید سوال خیلی از ما باشد. اما دقیقا پنج سال پیش بود در مسیر سفرم به سمت اروپا پسری هشت ساله را دیدم ،او تنها بود. از او پرسیدم “تو تنها هستی؟” در جوابم گفت :  “من به همراه پدر و مادرم راهی این سفر شدم   ، اما توانستم از سیم خاردارهای بین مرز ایران و ترکیه عبور كنم ، اما هنگامی كه خانواده ام قصد عبور داشتند ، پلیس ایران وارد شد و پدر و مادرم را به افغانستان اخراج كرد و من مجبور به ادامه سفر شدم . ” می خواهم بگویم خیلی از ما، پدر و مادرهایی که فرزندشان را تنها روانه اروپا می کنند را سرزنش و قضاوت می کنیم ، اما باید بدانیم که پشت تمام این اتفاقات، داستانی پنهان وجود دارد که ما از آن بی خبریم .

چقدر برایم عجیب است که پدر کودک را دستگیر کرده اند و با او همچون قاتلی که قتل عمدی مرتکب شده رفتار می شود . پدری که در غم مرگ فرزندش است . باید بدانید که تصمیم به مهاجرت سخت ترین تصمیم  و آخرین راه حل برای مشکلات است ،که پدری برای آینده فرزندانش می گیرد و آنهم زمانی که هیچ راهی برای او نمانده است. سوالهای زیادی دارم که بی جواب مانده اند. مثلا

 چرا کسی به علت مرگ کودکی که در دریای مقابل اردوگاه اسکاراماگا غرق شد، دستگیر نشد؟  چرا کسی مورد بازخواست واقع نشد ، که چرا اردوگاه پناهندگان باید در دورترین نقطه شهر و نزدیکترین نقطه به دریا باشد ؟

 چرا کسی به علت مرگ پدری در کمپ اسخیستو ، که منتظر پیوند خانواده  با پسرش در آلمان بود و به دلیل تأخیر آمبولانس و نادیده گرفتن مشکلات سلامتی اش  توسط کلینیک کمپ ، دستگیر نشد؟

 و آخرین سوال ، اگر کودکی جان خود را در آبهای اطراف اردوگاه کارا تپه از دست بدهد در صورتی که  مجبور است از آن آب به جای دوش برای حمام استفاده کند ، چه کسی دستگیر می شود؟

  بوی سیاست جدیدی را حس می کنم !

 سیاستی که به دنبال بازگرداندن مهاجران و نگهداری و عقب نگه داشتن آنها در مرزهای ترکیه است و یا حتی میتوانم به مورد دیگری مشکوک باشم ! مهاجران را به کشورهایی که جان آنها تهدید می کند باز می گردانند با مبالغ قابل توجهی یورو برای کشورهای جهان سومی شان،که زندگی آنها را برای مدتی تضمین کند .

 ای کاش کمی در قوانین مهاجرت تجدید نظر شود.

Photo token by: Aegean Boat Report (Illustration Photo)

The post Unnecessary Evils – 17/11/2020 appeared first on Self Advocacy Greece.

The post Light Of Hope appeared first on Self Advocacy Greece.

Mahdia Hosseini

Tomorrow is an important day. It’ s an important day for all those who seek justice. I have been listening perpetually the story of the famous Greek rapper for four and a half years. I’ ve seen pictures of his face. Ever since, I have always wondered why one would sacrifice one’s life to defend equal human rights and humanity, yet another kills a human being because of xenophobia.

His image is one of the pictures recorded in my Greek memoir album. In addition to his legacy, what motivated and inspired me even more to write is his mother’s stature and story. The face of a strong woman, a woman who is a symbol of justice for me in Greece.  A woman that stands by her son’s beliefs and continues on his path. A woman that is not afraid of anything. Sometimes I saw her crying in the pictures; sometimes I remembered the calmness that rippled in her eyes. Sometimes I shudder at her outcry against injustice, and sometimes her smile inspired me.

Tonight is a strange night; I can feel that one cannot sleep even for a moment. But tonight I think of you, your son and the way forward to tomorrow’ s court…. and to a sentence that may define justice for me also.

I will always think about the way that you stand at the forefront of justice and that after five and a half years you never backed down even for a moment. Know that the existence of people like you and all those that did not leave your side in these five and a half years, that I saw so many times in pictures how much of a support they were for you preventing your fall caused by the burden of grief, made the hard days of migration a little easier for me.

In every picture that you cried, know that my eyes were filled with tears. Know that whenever you shouted, you gave voice to the cries trapped in my own throat, the ones that suffocate me. Your cries are the cries for justice.

You would’ve never known that your son is a role model for my brothers and that you are a role model for me and my sisters. Whatever the court’s ruling may be, you and your son will be our Greek heroes forever.

Source: EUROKINISSI

The post A Mother waiting for Justice – 06/10/2020 appeared first on Self Advocacy Greece.

Mahdia Hossaini

Mother: Calm down, my child. Whisper your childish poems more quietly. This is the house of the dead where we sleep.

Child: Mother, they are awake! The day has just begun! But did you not tell me when my father died, that he is always with us? Is he watching us now? Did he emigrate with us? Mother, maybe some of the dead in this cemetery are my father’s neighbors in heaven.

Mother: Yes, my child, you are right, keep playing and singing!

Child: Mother, can you give me my father’s photo? I want to show my father to them. Maybe they know him!

The mother whispers to herself; “Oh, my God! How can I tell him that the only picture of his father was left back in the flames of Moria and has turned/burned to ashes”.

Child: Mother, you couldn’t find my father’s photo! No problem, we will look for the photos together tomorrow. Mother, why has no one come to see them during these two days? Don’t they have children? Oh mother, I promise you here and now, that if you die, I will come to see you every day. Mother, I like this cemetery more than Moria, everything here is white. I like white! I do not want to go back to the burned camp. I do not like the black of burnt tents and ashes.

Mother: My child, we are only their guests for a few days.

Child: Mother, why do you say we are guests? Unless we were already invited by them in their house. Otherwise we are their uninvited guests. But I feel they are happy that we are here. It is as if no one has mentioned them for a long time. Maybe their children do not have time to visit them, or maybe they don’t like that we are here….

This is a short story born in my mind since I saw the photo of the asylum seekers in the cemetery. This photo shows the living sleeping in the city of the dead. They have sought refuge in the dead. What did you do to them?! And what did you do with their wounded souls?!

After the fire in Moria and the declaration of a state of emergency on the island of Lesvos, we are witnessing heartbreaking scenes that can be seen through the camera’s lens of reporters. Smoky and blackened faces of children who are looking for their lost dreams under the ashes of their tents, but with a smile on their face as if they are saying this to themselves, it shall pass.

But what really stunned me was a lady’s comment about this photo that said, “These people are used to this kind of life, don’t upset yourself.” I want to say that no one gets used to suffering and hardships. I believe that woman buried her humanity in the cemetery herself. Don’t be like that woman, we will all live in the cemetery one day, but we should try to behave in a way we want the future generations to remember us.

فراموش شدگان پناه برده به شهر مردگان–۱۲/۰۹/۲۰۲۰

مهدیه حسینی

مادر: آرام تر کودکم !آرام بازی کن ! شعرهای کودکانه ات را آرام‌تر زمزمه کن ! اینجا خانه مردگانی ست که خفته اند

کودک: نه مادر،آنها بیدارند . تازه روز شروع شده .مگر خودت زمانی که پدرم مرد به من نگفتی که او همیشه همراه ماست .آیا او هم همراه با ما مهاجرت کرد؟الان پدرم در حال تماشای ماست ؟مادر شاید بعضی از مردگان این گورستان همسایه پدرم در بهشت باشند

مادر:. آری کودکم تو راست میگویی .به بازی و آواز خواندنت ادامه بده

کودک: مادر! عکس پدرم را می دهی ، می‌خواهم به آنها نشان دهم شاید پدرم را بشناسند

مادر با خودش زمزمه می‌کند

مادر : آه خدای من! چگونه به او بگویم تنها عکسی که از پدرت به یادگار مانده بود در شعله های آتش موریا به خاکستر تبدیل شد

کودک : مادر عکس پدرم را پیدا نکردی ، عیب ندارد ! فردا با هم به دنبال آن می گردیم .مادر ،چرا درطی این دو روز کسی به دیدن آنها (مردگان) نیامده ؟ آنها فرزند ندارند ؟ مادر من همین الان و در همین قبرستان قول می دهم ،اگر تو مردی زود به زود به دیدنت بیایم .مادر من این گورستان را بیشتر از کمپ موریا دوست دارم .اینجا همه چیز به رنگ سفید است و من رنگ سفید را دوست دارم. من نمی خواهم دوباره به کمپ سوخته برگردم . مادر، من سیاهی خاکسترها و خیمه های سوخته را دوست ندارم

مادر :کودکم ما فقط چند روزی مهمان آنها هستیم

کودک: مادر چرا می گویی ما مهمان آنها هستیم ؟ مگر آنها ما را به خانه شان دعوت کرده اند ؟ یا نه ،ما مهمان های ناخوانده ای هستیم که به خانه آنها آمده ایم. اما من احساس می کنم آنها خوشحالند از اینکه ما اینجا هستیم .ویی خیلی وقت است کسی از آنها یاد نکرده است .شاید فرزندانشان آنقدر درگیر مشکلات زندگی هستند که زمانی برای آمدن به اینجا ندارند . یا نه، شاید دوست ندارند ما را اینجا ببینند

این داستان کوتاهی ست که زاییده ذهن من بود از زمانی که عکس مهاجرین در قبرستان را دیدم .این عکس زندگانی را نشان می دهد که در شهر مردگان خفته اند .آنها به دنبال یافتن آرامش به مردگان پناه برده اند .شما چه کردید با آنها ؟! و چه می کنید با روح و روان زخم خورده آنها ؟

بعد از آتش سوزی در موریا و اعلام حالت اضطراری در جزیره لسووس ما شاهد صحنه های دلخراشی هستیم که از طریق لنز دوربین خبرنگاران ،آنها را به تماشا نشسته ایم .چهره هایی پوشیده از دود ،کودکانی که به دنبال رویاهای گمشده خود در زیر خاکستر خیمه هایشان هستند ،اما با لبخندی بر لب که گویی با خود می گویند :این نیز بگذرد . اما چیزی که بسیار مرا تحت تاثیر قرار داد کامنت یک خانم درباره این عکس بود . کامنت آن خانم این بود “این مردم به این گونه زندگی عادت دارند ،شما خودتان را ناراحت نکنید “می خواهم بگویم هیچ کس به بودن و غرق شدن در سختی ها و مشکلات عادت نمی کند . من باور دارم آن زن انسانیت را در قبرستان درون خودش دفن کرده است . بیایید مثل آن زن نباشیم .عاقبت همه ما مرگ است ،پس چه بهتر که یاد و خاطره خوب از خود در ذهن‌ها به یادگار بگذاریم تا آیندگان به خوبی از ما یاد کنند

The post The “Forgotten” found refuge in the City of the Dead – 12/09/2020 appeared first on Self Advocacy Greece.

Fire in Moria!! We lost everything that we had in our homeland then we became refugees and came to Europe to have a safe place and to build our future. Once again we lost everything. Our small tent or container that supposed to be our home burned in front of our eyes. 

It wasn’t just a tent that was burned, it was our future, our dreams, our comfort. We don’t know how long it will take to make those documents again, how long it will take for the Greek government and European union to make a decision about us! 

But we want from the people who judge us from the Greek government and European union that before making a decision about us we ask you to just suppose that you were a refugee for one day, imagine that your small tent or container is burning in front of your eyes, imagine that you’re living in the streets with your family, imagine that during the night you have nothing to cover your children and during the day you can’t find a shade for your children, your children ask for water and food but you don’t have money. You still don’t know how long you would be there. 

We know how difficult it is to imagine. Please do this before making a decision for those children, which are crying because they don’t have a small place to feel that they are safe. Let’s see how you will react!!!

Press Here to read it in Farsi

The post Before making a decision imagine being a refugee… – 11/09/2020 appeared first on Self Advocacy Greece.