LEBANON / SYRIAN SOMALI REFUGEES

Naama was a Somali refugee living in Syria when she met and married Mahmoud Moussali. The war in Syria forced the couple to flee to Lebanon along with their 18-month old daughter. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:30
• Production Date: 20 April 2016
• Asset Language: Arabic
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: DISCRIMINATION; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE; REFUGEES; RESETTLEMENT
• Geographic Subject: LEBANON
• MAMS Id: 1606724
• Parent Id: 1606724
• Alternate Title: unifeed160420d

Description

STORY: LEBANON / SYRIAN SOMALI REFUGEES
TRT: 02:30
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 3 MARCH 2016, DAHR EL EIN, LEBANON

Shotlist

3 MARCH 2016, DAHR EL EIN, LEBANON

1. Rack focus, from screen to Mahmoud and Namaa on a balcony in their apartment
2. Close up, Mahmoud
3. Med shot, Mahmoud and Namaa talking
4. Close up, Namaa
5. Wide shot, Mahmoud and Namaa looking down from the balcony
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Moussali, Syrian Refugee:
““I married a refugee. She (my wife) had lived in Syria for 12 years.”
7. Close up, Namaa
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Moussali, Syrian Refugee:
“I never imagined that I myself would become a refugee.”
9. Med shot, Mahmoud and Naama playing with their daughter
10. UPSOUND (Arabic) Naama, Wife, Somali Refugee (Arabic):
“Come on, come on! One, two, three!”
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naama, Wife, Somali Refugee (Arabic):
“First of all, I was pregnant. Secondly, There was no security. I used to have nightmares about someone raiding our house and taking Mahmoud away.”
12. Close up, daughter playing
13. Med shot, Mahmoud and his daughter playing on piano keyboard
14. Med shot, Naama giving potato chips to her daughter while Mahmoud is carrying her.
15. Close up, Naama kissing her daughter
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naama, Wife, Somali Refugee (Arabic):
“When my husband is carrying my daughter, wherever we are - at an event or in the street - people ask him, whose daughter is this? He responds ‘My daughter’. 'Where is her mother from?' He says ‘She’s Somali’ ‘Oh she’s African? How could you marry her?’”
17. Various shots, Mahmoud and his daughter standing beside Namaa in the kitchen while she prepares tea
18. Various shots, Mahmoud’s daughter dancing in the living room with Mahmoud’s family
19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naama, Wife, Somali Refugee (Arabic):
“I am tired of going from one country to another and one house to another - new people, new neighbours. I am tired. I just want to settle in one place.”
20. Close up, daughter
21. Med shot, Naama putting a jacket on her daughter
22. Various shots, Mahmoud carrying his daughter walking along the road with Naama

Storyline

Naama was a Somalia refugee living in Syria when she met and married Mahmoud Moussali.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Moussali, Syrian Refugee:
“I married a refugee. She (my wife) had lived in Syria for 12 years.”

The couple lived in the capitol, Damascus, before the war forced them to flee to Lebanon.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Moussali, Syrian Refugee:
“I never imagined that I myself would become a refugee.”

In Lebanon, Naama became a refugee for the second time.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naama, Wife, Somali Refugee (Arabic):
“First of all, I was pregnant. Secondly, There was no security. I used to have nightmares about someone raiding our house and taking Mahmoud away.”

Life in exile for the couple has not been easy.

Their differences are sometimes questioned.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naama, Wife, Somali Refugee (Arabic):
“When my husband is carrying our daughter, wherever we are - at an event or in the street - people ask him, whose daughter is this? He responds ‘My daughter’. Where is her mother from? He says ‘She’s Somali’ ‘Oh she’s African? How could you marry her?’”

Mahmoud, Naama, and their 18-month old daughter will be on the move again soon.

In 2015, UNHCR submitted a request to resettle a total of 19,366 including 9,199 refugees to European countries and 615 to Finland.

The couple and their 18-month-old daughter are waiting to be resettled in Finland. They will be join by Mahmoud’s parents and sister. They hope to finally settle and build a future.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naama, Wife, Somali Refugee (Arabic):
“I am tired of going from one country to another and one house to another - new people, new neighbours. I am tired. I just want to settle in one place.”

Mahmoud’s dream is to continue his education and find humanitarian work.

Naama wants to go back to her job as a nurse.

Together they say they will overcome the challenges of a new life in a new country.