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GREECE / SYRIAN REFUGEES
STORY: GREECE / SYRIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 2.41
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 27, 31 MAY 2014, ATHENS / GREECE
1. Various shots, Athens’ neighbourhood
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Malak, Syrian Refugee:
“Before the war my life was great, I was happy with my family.”
3. Med shot, Malak walking up the stairs and entering flat
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Malak, Syrian Refugee:
“It hurt a lot when I had to leave Syria, but the future is not in my hands, it is our fate.”
5. Med shot, Malak and his father Fawaz in the kitchen
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Malak, Syrian Refugee:
“But what I have learnt is that whatever happens, I must always be with my father.”
7. Close up, kettle on the fire
8. Pan right, Malak and his father Fewaz sitting on sofa
9. Various shots, Malak and Fewaz watching TV
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fewaz, Malak´s Father:
“Our lives here it is like being deaf for we don’t speak Greek, you can’t work or communicate, if I have to go to the shop I take my son with me as he speaks a bit of Greek, he has become my guide.”
11. Various shots, Fewaz and his son watching TV
12. Various shots, exterior views of their flat
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fewaz, Malak´s Father:
“In the streets here they don’t need to look at us with hatred for we already hate ourselves. We feel our presence is a burden for them.”
14. Med shot, Fewaz sitting on window ledge looking out of flat
15. Tilt up, Malak as he looks at his phone
16. Various shots, Fewaz looking at photo of his wife
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fewaz, Malak´s Father:
“Here we are living a slow death here; perhaps it would have been better if we had all died together back home. So long as we are apart, none of us feel whole and the distance between us is great. I don’t know how we will get through these days.”
18. Wide shot, Fewaz sitting on window ledge
Fewaz and his son Malak are Syrian refugees living in Athens. Six months ago they were separated them from the rest of their family.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Malak, Syrian Refugee:
“Before the war my life was great, I was happy with my family.¨
It was painful for me when I had to leave Syria, but the future is not in my hands. This is our destiny. What I have learnt is that whatever happens, I must always be with my father.”
Fewaz fled Syria with his family over two years ago. He was turned back at the Greek Turkish border six times before he eventually entered Greece via Evros River.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fewaz, Malak´s Father:
“Our lives here it is like being deaf for we don’t speak Greek, you can’t work or communicate, if I have to go to the shop I take my son with me as he speaks a bit of Greek, he has become my guide. In the streets here they don’t need to look at us with hatred for we already hate ourselves. We feel our presence is a burden on them.”
He and his family lived for one year in Athens before he decided to try to leave the country. His status as a refugee in a country where he doesn´t speak the language, lack of work and health care for his family, as well as hostility towards refugees were just some of the reasons behind his decision.
Fewaz paid smugglers to get his family overland to Northern Europe, but at the border with Macedonia the smugglers left Fewaz and his son Malak behind.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fewaz, Malak´s Father:
“Here we are living a slow death here; perhaps it would have been better if we had all died together back home. So long as we are apart, none of us feel whole and the distance between us is great. I don’t know how we will get through these days.”
Unable to raise funds to try again, Fewaz and his son are now stuck in Athens, living in the hope that they will one day be reunited with the rest of their family, who eventually made it to Germany.
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