GREECE / REFUGEES FISHING

Neither Ismain nor Walid knew anything about fishing before they wound up living on a Mediterranean island, both of them refugees in search of safety. But fishing has brought the Syrian and Iraqi men together, giving them a pastime and a possible view onto the future. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:22
• Production Date: 29 March 2018
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES
• Geographic Subject: GREECE
• MAMS Id: 2119588
• Parent Id: 2119588
• Alternate Title: unifeed180329b

Description

STORY: GREECE / REFUGEES FISHING
TRT: 2:22
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 8 FEBRUARY 2018, HERAKLION, CRETE, GREECE

Shotlist

8 FEBRUARY 2018, HERAKLION, CRETE, GREECE

1. Wide shot, Jaafar and Khalife shaking hands
2. Various shots, Jaafar and Khalife fishing together
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid Jaafar, Iraqi Refugee:
“We started meeting every day. Everyday there was fishing we would meet and go together.”
4. Wide shot, Jaafar and Khalife fishing
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid Jaafar, Iraqi Refugee:
“We sit together and enjoy our time. We would fish, gather a large amount, and then it together.”
6. Wide shot, Jaafar and Khalife cooking at Khalife’s home with family
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismain Khalife, Syrian Refugee:
“We faced a greater danger than risking my and my family’s life at sea.”
8. Wide shot, Khalife family cooking with Jaafar
9. Close ups, Jaafar cleaning fish
10. Various shots, Khalife family and Jaafar eating
11. Wide shot, Jaafar and Khalife sitting on rocks
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismain Khalife, Syrian Refugee:
“The sea gives me a peace of mind. When I gaze into it, It makes me forget a little. I suffer from post-traumatic stress because of the shelling and the siege we lived through.”
13. Close up, Khalife sitting on rocks
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid Jaafar, Iraqi Refugee:
“The sea is the only thing that saved me. It gives me comfort. It saved me from death.”
15. Various shots, Jaafar and Khalife fishing together
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismain Khalife, Syrian Refugee:
“He helped me forget the past and start a new life.”
17. Tracking shot, Jaafar and Khalife walking their bikes

Storyline

Neither Ismain nor Walid knew anything about fishing before they wound up living on a Mediterranean island, both of them refugees in search of safety. But fishing has brought the Syrian and Iraqi men together, giving them a pastime and a possible view onto the future.

Ismain was a political cartoonist who fled Syria last year to Turkey. Walid was a physics teacher in Baghdad. The 37-year-old Christian fled to Greece after being threatened by a militia, attacked, and injured.

The two met on a beach on the Greek island of Crete trying to fish. Neither had fished before, but together they learned and supported each other.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid Jaafar, Iraqi Refugee:
“We started meeting every day. Everyday there was fishing we would meet and go together.”

Now the two are inseparable and meet daily at the sea.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid Jaafar, Iraqi Refugee:
“We sit together and enjoy our time. We would fish, gather a large amount, and then it together.”

Both men are beneficiaries of the UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) accommodation and cash assistance program, which has helped thousands of vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers in Greece over the past two years.

50-year-old Ismain said it took him and his family 13 attempts to cross from Turkey to Greece because of bad weather or a police presence. He said the perilous journey was not as dangerous as staying in Syria.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismain Khalife, Syrian Refugee:
“We faced a greater danger than risking my and my family’s life at sea.”

Ismain and his family are waiting to be reunited with his son in Germany, but Walid wants to make Crete his home, and is seeking asylum there. While they wait, the daily catch provides them with meals and a sort of therapy.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismain Khalife, Syrian Refugee:
“The sea gives me a peace of mind. When I gaze into it, It makes me forget a little. I suffer from post-traumatic stress because of the shelling and the siege we lived through.”

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid Jaafar, Iraqi Refugee:
“The sea is the only thing that saved me. It gives me comfort. It saved me from death.”

In exile these men have found companionship and the courage to look to the future. Isamin said his friend with Walid has filled a large gap in his life.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismain Khalife, Syrian Refugee:
“He helped me forget the past and start a new life.”

More than 600 refugees and asylum seekers live on the island of Crete in Greece, where they have received housing through UNHCR’s accommodation scheme. The programme, funded by the European Union, provides rented housing to vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees in Greece. People are additionally supported by social workers and interpreters who help them get access to medical care, employment and language courses. In total, since November 2015, some 44,000 individuals have benefitted from the accommodation scheme.