“Considering how many refugees’ clothes and remains of camps are found in the Podlasie forests, it is reasonable to assume that many refugees are gone forever. Some drowned in swamps; some were eaten by animals. Those bodies will most likely never be found, they may never get a respectful burial” – the photojournalist Agnieszka Sadowska-Mazurek tells Salam Lab
‘The trivialization of Islamophobia is like trivial nationalism, one that is unconscious. It is the air we breathe. The language, the currency, the symbol. It surrounds us so much that we no longer pay attention to it, reinforcing our ethnic identity. Islamophobia functions in the same way in Poland. We have stopped reacting to it’
Back in 1996 a boy of Palestinian descent living in Amman was gifted a skateboard and he started skating around the city, getting into troubles with the police and pedestrians evoking the dream of a skatepark in him. His name was Mohammed Zakaria. In 2009 he founded his own skateboard brand called ‘Philadelphia’
‘We never know who the other is, just as we never really know who we are ourselves.’ – says the author of The Guest, Ariane Koch.
We are used to the fact that it is white people who save those fleeing war or persecution. It wasn’t always this way.
“I knew I had to leave Iran. I’ve known it since I turned fourteen” – says Michał Rezazadeh, who creates Irańczyk w Polsce [Iranian in Poland] channel and fanpage living in Warsaw.
Ludwika Śniadecka – a Polish woman, the leading spokeswoman for the Polish independence movement, the unrequited love of Juliusz Słowacki.
A couple days ago I picked up two boys seeking to hitchhike. Okay, two young men. They are both nineteen. One of them was from the Territorial Defence Forces. He has never seen a refugee. He never participated in deportation or pushbacks. When asked “what will you do when you see a refugee family in the forest?”, he replied, “I’ll call the Border Guard”.
“Lithuania received 43 million euros from the European Union, to keep refugees in closed centres throughout the country. So, de-facto it received money so that they can violate human rights in refugee camps”.
“I had heard that through Belarus I could reach the European Union. I was supposed to find there the end of suffering and the possibility of stabilisation. The decision was taken in haste and I decided to take this step, which I now regret. At present, I’m in the EU, where instead of freedom and peaceful life, there are prisons, soldiers and violence” – says Farid from Iraq. “Welcome to Guantánamo” – the refugees kept repeating. However, we are not talking about the infamous prison for people suspected of terrorist offences. We are talking about the Guarded Centers for Foreigners in Poland.
In our society when a girl is underage, she stays under the custody of her father, when she is married, she is under the custody of her husband. It means that a girl is never independent. Read a story of a young doctor from Afghanistan living in Poland.
“I am Rojin Shamo from Iraqi Kurdistan. I am a Yazidi and being a Yazidi is not easy. I’ve always wanted freedom. Europe seemed to be the solution to my problem. I arrived in Lithuania last year, on June 21st to be exact. I live in a refugee camp. My dreams of freedom in Europe ended with me living alongside complete strangers.
My name is Nasratullah Taban. Before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, I’ve been working as a journalist covering affairs in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Russia for the past six years. Now I am trying to manage my life in Poland. After all, living in Europe can be a little different than living in the countryside of Afghanistan.
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Ninety percent of all violence happens in private homes. Ukrainians escaping, mostly women and children, are especially vulnerable in a foreign country, behind locked doors. Humanitarian crises are chaotic situations. Professional organizations know these risks – but the situation attracts well-meaning voluntary helpers who act haphazardly while looking for accommodation for someone. The resulting chaos […]
This Sunday opens the summit for A World of Neighbours network, which we are associated with. It is a noteworthy initiative, which we have already taken part in multiple times. This year’s programme for the summit consists of workshops, lectures, discussion panels, film screenings and concerts. It is a week devoted to debates and meetings […]