SERBIA / KURDISH REFUGEE

After a harrowing journey to Europe, a Kurdish teen from Iraq starts a new life in Belgrade, Serbia. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:04:16
• Production Date: 16 April 2019
• Asset Language: Arabic
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES
• Geographic Subject: IRAQ; SERBIA
• MAMS Id: 2380857
• Parent Id: 2380857
• Alternate Title: unifeed190416d

Description

STORY: SERBIA / KURDISH REFUGEE
TRT: 4:16
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: SERBIAN /ARABIC /NATS

DATELINE: 20-21 FEBRUARY 2019, BELGRADE, SERBIA

Shotlist

1. Various shots, Iraqi refugee, Karox, working with dough
2. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
"I used to ask my mum to send me money. But I’m working now and I can buy all sorts of things.”
3. Various shots, Karox and restaurant owner
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amer Moussa, Karox's owner of Shawarma Bar:
“I know what it is like to be a refugee. These people need a second chance. And I always say that my parents and family and most Palestinians would not have been able to achieve anything if it weren’t for the help of others.”
5. Pan right, Karox walking out of a building
6. Pan right, Karox walking across a park
7. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
“I was very scared when travelling with the smugglers.
8. Wide shot, Karox with his phone siting on bed
9. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
I saw many things I’d never seen before: drugs, knives, fights all the time. I was very afraid.”
10. Close up, phone
11. Close up, Karox’s face
12. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
“It was terrible for me in Bulgaria. I spent 11 days in prison, where I had to sleep on the floor.”
13. Various shots, Karox walking down a stair
14. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
“From Romania, I went to Hungary, and Austria by myself. Austria returned me to Hungary and Hungary sent me to Serbia.”
15. Various shots, Karox with other youths studying
16. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
"It is great here. I can do a lot of things. I can study. The mentors help me when I need it. Nobody scares me. I feel good."
17. Various shots, Belgrade city center
18. Wide shot, restaurant’s storefront
19. Close up, “Shawarma Bar” sign
20. Med shot, Karox talking on the phone
21. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
"I miss my mother the most.
22. Various shots, Karox preparing food
23. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
“It is not possible for her to come here. I don’t know how it could happen."
24. Tracking shot, Karox shaving meat from the shawarma

Storyline

This teen refugee found a lifeline in Serbia. Karox is from Iraq and he works in a shawarma restaurant.

SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
"I used to ask my mum to send me money. But I’m working now and I can buy all sorts of things.”

Karox's employer is a former refugee himself

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amer Moussa, Karox's owner of Shawarma Bar:
“I know what it is like to be a refugee. These people need a second chance. And I always say that my parents and family and most Palestinians would not have been able to achieve anything if it weren’t for the help of others.”

Karox was only 15 when he fled to Europe on foot.

“I was very scared when travelling with the smugglers…I saw many things I’d never seen before: drugs, knives, fights all the time. I was very afraid,” said Karox.

For two years, the teenager went from one country to another.

SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Karox, Iraqi refugee:
“It was terrible for me in Bulgaria. I spent 11 days in prison, where I had to sleep on the floor. From Romania, I went to Hungary and Austria by myself. Austria returned me to Hungary, and Hungary sent me to Serbia.”

Karox was eventually granted asylum in Serbia, thus giving him a sense of stability for the first time in years. In this shelter in Belgrade, he lives with 10 other teens

"It is great here. I can do a lot of things. I can study. The mentors help me when I need it. Nobody scares me. I feel good."

4,000 refugees remain in Serbia, including 448 children, orphaned or separated from their families

"I miss my mother the most. It is not possible for her to come here. I don’t know how it could happen."

During the refugee crisis of 2015, tens of thousands of asylum seekers passed through Serbia on their way to EU countries. Now just over 4,000 remain in Serbia, including 448 minors who arrived unaccompanied or were separated from their families during their journeys. They are accommodated in homes and shelters with Serbian children who are also without parental care.

Since 2008, Serbia has granted full refugee status to 51 persons and subsidiary protection to 69.