My whole life fit into two bags: the stories of Ukrainian refugees. True stories from the lives of Ukrainian refugees

I also asked them how they got to Germany. It turned out that almost everyone somehow got to Turkey, then took a boat or ship to Greece, which cost from 1,000 to 3,000 dollars. Moreover, in Turkey, on the shore, they were met by soldiers with machine guns and literally herded onto ships, where people were packed like sardines into a barrel.
I asked, what if there was no money? Then, threatening with machine guns, people were driven away from the beach. In Greece, refugees were fingerprinted, documents scanned, and front and profile photographs were taken. From Greece they went to Macedonia, from there through Balkan countries to Austria, and there the German border is close. All refugees gathered in Passau. It took me three lines to describe their journey, but we simply cannot imagine what people had to endure. After all, many fled with small children. 25-year-old Afghan Ziaudin said that he walked for 12 hours through the mountains, and then reached Germany for weeks. In Afghanistan, he worked as a policeman, but the Taliban wanted to kill him for it. He escaped, but his wife and little daughter remained in Afghanistan, for whom he misses terribly.

I also asked my Syrians what percentage of the population supports Bashar al-Assad. They said he lies all the time and 90 percent of people believe him. Others were either killed or escaped. (Does this remind you of anything?) And now he is destroying the remnants of the resistance in Aleppo.

By the way, about Aleppo.
I have this chubby guy in my day group, Ahmad. I knew that he was from a very rich family. He missed a lot of hours, speaks no German, but can read and write a little. When he returned after a long break, he started the fashion of praying in class during breaks. At first he prayed bending down, and then he actually brought a prayer rug and bowed to Allah Akbar. And then he also involved others in this matter. This infuriated me terribly. After all, a school is not a house of worship. And then, I also don’t feel like resting, and I’m not at all interested in watching their bows. Several times I was already planning to talk to them seriously. But I never got around to it.
And today I found out that Ahmad’s entire family remained in the northeast of Aleppo. Where all Assad’s and Russian bombs and tanks are now directed. He has had no contact with his family for two weeks now. I asked why they didn’t evacuate. And he replied that they were surrounded and could not leave there.
After that, when I announced a break, they themselves asked me if I objected to their prayers.
And I didn’t object.

One of important points upon receipt political asylum in the USA - a correctly composed history (legend). Many people make mistakes when writing it, which lead to denial of asylum. In this article about its preparation, we will answer the following questions:

• Why should history be written independently?
• What should its structure be?
• What to write and what not to write
• What documents should be attached to the legend?

In the introduction you need to describe the situation in your country, but only those aspects that relate to your case. If you have been harassed about your faith, you should describe general position in the country. Why is your religion being oppressed, and who is doing it (the authorities, adherents of another religion, or is it prohibited by law)? At the same time, the main thing is not to invent or embellish anything, since all facts are verified using data from the relevant authorities and even special services. Human rights and their observance play an important role. You can get acquainted with them at.

The main part should describe situations in which you were oppressed or your rights were violated. Here it is important to indicate all specific data - dates, names, addresses, names of organizations, etc. When describing several cases, you need to present them in chronological order. You also need to indicate what you risked in each situation. For example, you were beaten and could be disabled, or they threatened to kill you and your fears are not unfounded. The main part needs to be checked especially carefully. All data must correspond exactly to what took place.

If you do not remember specific data, such as an address, date or full name of a person, you need to write about it honestly. Approximate data may be provided. For example: month, street name, name of a person without surname and position.

In conclusion, you should write a general paragraph stating that you are asking for political asylum in the United States and state why you decided to do this. For example: due to persecution by the authorities, due to oppression based on belonging to social group etc. It is a good idea to point out what might happen to you if you are forced to return to your home country. For example: you can be killed, convicted without reason, etc. If you have not previously applied for political asylum in the United States for some reason, this reason must be indicated.

If you have documents confirming any facts, they should be indicated in the place where they are needed. For example: “on the fact of the beating, I received a medical examination report (Appendix No. 8)”, the documents can be any evidence, even just an eyewitness account certified by a signature.

Refugees from the south-east of Ukraine, forced to flee from home and start new life in Russia, they talked about what they had to endure in their homeland.

Elena Fedorovna and her grandchildren Diana and Seryozha live in Rostov-on-Don in a shelter for refugees, which was organized by a local philanthropist. The children's mother died, the father left the family. Seryozha and Diana have no one except their grandmother. She tells reporters how she ended up in Russia, not for the first time, but every time - with tears.

“We are from Pervomaisk Lugansk region, our city is now completely destroyed. The militia brought me, my 4-year-old granddaughter and a wounded grandson to Rostov-on-Don...

...it was July 28th. They started bombing at 4 am. In 3-4 hours, everything was bombed - houses, schools, kindergartens, churches. My boy, my grandson, was wounded by a shell fragment. The neighbors hid in the basement, I left my granddaughter with the neighbors and ran with the wounded Serezha in my arms to the hospital, ran 12 kilometers. When he had the operation and he began to come to his senses after the anesthesia, I asked the doctor to leave him in the hospital, and I ran back again to get my granddaughter. I didn’t see anything, didn’t feel anything - I had to run, save the girl, and I ran.

The militia at some post did not let me through, I begged: “I have a child there in the basement.” They told me: “Look for your granddaughter in other places, that basement was bombed, people ran away from there.” But I felt that she was there! That's where I found her. The little girl stood for eight hours, hiding behind the boards, shaking with fear. I grabbed her, we sat on the steps for a while, and then we ran with her back 12 kilometers under the bombing to the hospital where Seryozha was.

Then the militia started shouting to us that the hospital was about to be bombed, they quickly put us on a bus where there were women and children, and we went. Militiamen walked in front of and behind the bus. We drove probably 50 kilometers, and then the bus was stopped: a plane appeared above us, we jumped out and lay down on the ground. The kids are so smart: no one taught them, but they were the first to jump into the grass and hide. Seryozha was in my arms. Dianochka is crying, asking for something to drink, and her grandson has developed a fever. The plane flew very low above us...

I don’t know by what fate, but we approached the border. We were immediately accommodated in a tent camp. That's how we ended up in Russia. Good people they helped us raise money so that Seryozha could get paid plastic surgery. He can already breathe on his own - a fragment from a shell passed through his entire face, from one cheek to the other, through his nose, damaged the nasal septum, and another fragment is in his head ... "

We met Anna at the TAP (temporary accommodation point) on the territory children's camp"Youth" near Belgorod. She and her husband made the decision to leave for the sake of their children, so that they would not have to see what war was like.

“We lived near Mariupol, in the Volodarsky district. There are no military operations there yet, but there are constant arrivals from Zaporozhye military equipment. And, you know, the heart bleeds when little children see a falling star and make a wish: “So that tanks don’t travel anymore.”

We have the same problems as most refugees. At home, my daughter went to first grade, but now, until the documents have been completed, we cannot send her to school, she is missing school. I work with her myself, teach her to read and count, I hope she will be able to pass the exam and go to second grade. A lot of children are left for the second year, they can’t cope, and school programs in Russia and Ukraine are very different. My son does not go to school yet, he is 5 years old.

From this temporary detention center we will soon be sent under the resettlement program to Nizhny Novgorod. My husband and I ordinary people, we don’t understand politics and will never understand who needed this war. It’s just very sad that they didn’t let us live in peace, that we had to leave our home.

My husband still has his mother there; she suffered a stroke 1.5 years ago. She's lying down, all right side body is paralyzed. Her husband's older sister takes care of her. They still pay pensions there, but they are mere pennies - her pension is not enough for two packs of diapers, which need to be changed in the morning and evening. After buying diapers, 80 hryvnia remains from this pension, and another 860 hryvnia is needed for medicine. We can only buy half of the list of medications that the doctor prescribed for her - only the essentials. There is simply no money for vitamins.

We, like many, left because of the children, so that they would not see the war, would not see this whole nightmare, would not end up in the “cauldron”, as in Debaltsevo. My husband and I lived together for almost nine years, and we moved to Russia with two bags of things - we couldn’t take anything with us, and how can you transport it if you don’t even know where you’re going? We put our whole lives in two bags and went.”

A young couple joins the conversation - Evgenia and Denis, both from Dimitrov, Donetsk region. In Dimitrov itself there is no military action, and there are no prospects for young people, they say.

“Mom is 62 years old - such an age that moving somewhere is both psychologically and physically difficult, so she stayed. I hope that over time we will be able to persuade her to move to Russia,” shares Evgenia. - We left because there is no work for us in Dimitrov.

The attitude towards people at home is simply terrible. We are a mining town, two mines were simply closed, only one remained, and at the time we left, the miners had not been paid wages for five months. And our men have nowhere else to earn money. There is still a meat processing plant in Dimitrov, but if you convert the salary to the current exchange rate, you can earn about 5-6 thousand rubles a month. How can I live on this money? Our prices are quite high now. While we lived there, I worked as a salesman in a store, and Denis worked in a mine for 7 years.

Now we are completing the final documents; one of these days we will leave under the resettlement program for Samara. Our friends from Dimitrov have already moved there and got jobs at a ceramic factory. They say there are vacancies there. Even if the situation changes, we don’t want to go back, we want to take root here. We do not connect our future with Ukraine.”

In the Rostov and Belgorod regions, assistance to refugees is provided by the Russian Orthodox Church and American philanthropists. By blessing His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, since April, a large inter-Christian humanitarian project of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate has been implemented in these border regions, charitable organization Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

In total, from April to June, about 30 thousand refugees received humanitarian assistance under the project. More than 58 thousand individual kits have been distributed - hygiene items, bed linen and towels, baby diapers and non-perishable food products.

In the near future, another 10 thousand sets for children will be created and distributed: soft toys, educational games and benefits, school supplies.

Refugees are often confused with migrant workers or immigrants. In Ukraine they are also called “zarobitchane”. The difference is significant: labor migrant moves across states solely for the purpose of paid work. And refugees leave the country in which they permanently resided due to emergency circumstances . They had no other choice.

In 1951, the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted, which sets out the necessary standards for their treatment. This document prohibits the expulsion or forced return of people with refugee status; provides them with the right to go to court, the right to education, social security, housing and freedom of movement.

Today, the refugee situation in many countries has become an international humanitarian problem. Ukraine, by virtue of its geographical location- a restraining barrier between the countries of the south-eastern region and Europe.

Most of them (55.5%) are from Afghanistan, 28.8% are citizens of the former Soviet Union, 13% are refugees from Africa (Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Angola and other African states), just over one percent are refugees from Syria, Iraq, Iran and other countries in Asia and Europe. About 45% of recognized refugees live in Kyiv, 25% in Odessa, as well as in Kharkov, Lvov, and other regions of the state.

Ukraine has signed the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and a law on refugees has been in force here since 1994. In the same year, a representative office of UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) was opened.

UNHCR's executive partner is the Kiev charitable foundation Rokada, which develops programs social support refugees in Ukraine. The head of the board of Rokada, Natalia Gurzhiy, talks about the work of the fund.

Not a cool topic

— There are indeed very relevant and fashionable topics in charity. Refugees in this sense are not a cool topic. This is remembered once a year and then rarely. And if anyone decides to help refugees, he will encounter situations where he will not receive help or encouragement from the media or, especially, from the state. Using our foundation as an example, I can say that sometimes we hear reproaches that we have “gone fat on foreign grants” and are helping “who knows who.” Ukraine is unique in this regard, since, unlike other countries (even Belarus and Moldova), it does not have state program support and protection of refugees. This falls entirely on the expenditure side of UNHCR and the European Union. Since 2009, the Local Integration Program for Refugees has been operating in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, which includes costs for training, grants for refugees, and their employment. I would say that we help not only refugees, but also the state of Ukraine to realize its declared obligations.

What needs to be done to obtain refugee status in Ukraine?

It is necessary to immediately, when crossing the state border, write an application to the migration service for refugee status. But this means that the person who wrote will only receive a certificate proving his identity, and he will belong to the category asylum seekers. He may wait a very long time for refugee status or not receive it at all. This is influenced by many factors - and these clarifications to migration service, we help people survive in our country.

There are times when people who enter a country are unable to apply for refugee status or subsidiary protection. But as soon as we become aware of such facts, UNHCR and its partners contact the border service, call the migration service, and help write an application for refugee status.

By and large, a state that has signed the Convention and does not accept a refugee’s application is violating this Convention. UNHCR and implementing partners are committed to ensuring that the State adheres to international law refugees, and that the social and legal climate for refugees in Ukraine improves.

If a person turns up at our office door on a Friday evening and says: “I have nowhere to live and nowhere to go” - and this is a fairly typical case - then none of the employees go home either. Social workers call the community and ask them to take them for at least a few days, a month, out of the kindness of their hearts.

We provide food, basic necessities, and clothing. Those who came with children also received baby food. But these resources are extremely limited. A person who comes to us will neither be hungry nor cold. We have mattresses and blankets in a separate room - just for such cases when the family can take him in, but there are no beds. We take him to where we agreed on at least an overnight stay. Then we look for work, again we look for housing...

Do people waiting to receive status receive medical assistance or is this also a matter for the fund?

Those who have documents proving their identity - and this may be a certificate received from the migration service - have the same rights as citizens of Ukraine. Only we have not yet eradicated xenophobia. You have to go to the clinic hand in hand with the person and explain to the doctors all their responsibilities and the rights of refugees.

We cooperate with human rights organizations that legally support these people and decide everything difficult situations. But these lawyers also receive payment for their work from the European Union.

Most often or almost always, people need income and they go to the markets. Their life is quite monotonous before receiving refugee status. But once this status is obtained, the person can become a participant in the integration program. It includes language training, he receives a scholarship and travel expenses.

And those who have not yet received refugee status - do they learn the language at the bazaars?

At the bazaars they all learn the language and the peculiarities of our life. It is possible to learn the language at our integration center, but these courses do not provide a certificate of completion. And the course that those who have received the status take is more high level, at a state university. After such courses, the refugee receives a certificate stating that he speaks the language at a level sufficient for communication, and can even apply for citizenship if he wants to stay here for a long time. And, of course, this helps in finding a job. But the situation is contradictory: they are looking for work in the same markets, as laborers, because they can get a job in their specialty for a person who does not have work book, experience is difficult. And work in the market is the only thing they can find without our help.

Twice Heroes

— Very often, refugees are deceived by smugglers - those who illegally transport people to other countries. They promise them Germany, the Balkan countries, France - and take the corresponding money for moving. And they come to the border with Ukraine and say – that’s it, we’ve arrived – Germany. And people are left without money, without documents, without language - they don’t even understand where they are. Unfortunately, such people will no longer get to Europe, except under the family reunification program - if one of their relatives is already in another country. The Red Cross is looking for such connections. And Europe today is very strict about any illegal border crossings. Europe could even return refugees to Ukraine under the Readmission Treaty.

And among these people there are real heroes who realize themselves in our country. The main trump card is knowledge of several languages. Just imagine - we trained them Ukrainian language, and at the same time they know English, French, Portuguese, Persian, Arabic, Farsi. Among the unique ones - for example, Lingala. These are irreplaceable guides and translators for travel agencies. However, they are hired infrequently because, let me emphasize again, the xenophobia of our employers prevents them from realizing what benefits this can bring. The President Hotel understood the benefit and hired our Angolan refugee, who is now an administrator at this hotel, as a doorman.

In Uganda, Walvas was an economist. In Ukraine, I found myself as a cook at the President Hotel

UNHCR helps people acquire a profession or restore their lost specialty, qualifications, and skills. In the same “President Hotel” we also have a cook from Uganda - Valvas, he is a candidate of economic sciences. He started by washing dishes, then became an assistant cook. But when the retraining program was started, he received a new full-fledged profession. And now he is already an assistant chef!

And how often do you get such positive stories?

So we talked about social status. An Afghan woman worked in her homeland as a gynecologist. Her husband, a lawyer, was a prominent politician. When the coup happened in Afghanistan, they, like many of their compatriots, fled from the Taliban to Ukraine. And this prominent judge worked for many years as a loader in the market. His wife, Jalila, stayed at home with the children. But she had a dream - to work in her profession again. And even when she received status and learned the language, she still would not have been accepted into medicine, since she did not know many innovations. And most importantly, her diploma is outdated. And in March 2009, the Local Integration Project for Refugees began to be implemented, in which one of the points includes assistance in nostrification of diplomas. She came with all her diplomas, and together we went through these circles of hell - exams, academic differences, special language courses with medical terms. She is now 40 years old, and she has not worked for 15 years, but thanks to her perseverance, today she is already completing an internship and working in a maternity hospital, although not yet as a doctor. UNHCR helped her partially pay for the internship, but the internship costs 49 thousand hryvnia ( about 200 thousand rubles at the exchange rate as of June 20, 2012. - Ed.). And Jalila spins as best she can. Plus children who are still studying themselves and my husband is not well. But she is moving towards her goal, confirming her qualifications, and it will be another miracle when she accepts the first patient and will benefit Ukraine.

Another important mission of the local integration program is to provide grants for refugees to start their own businesses. They study, write business plans in their free time from their main work, and we meet with them for this when it is convenient for them - on any day and time. Then a competition is held, and the UNHCR management chooses who to give the start-up capital.

We have a taxi driver in Odessa - Joseph (a refugee from Africa), who, with the help of UNHCR, bought a car, registered as a state of emergency and works for himself.

Joseph is a refugee from Africa. Now he is a taxi driver and individual entrepreneur in Odessa

There is an entrepreneur who rents beach sets and equipment. At first, he himself worked for a long time on the Black Sea coast for a beach director, and now, when a business grant program appeared, he wrote a business plan and received funds to rent umbrellas, sun loungers, and sun loungers. But our most striking story is the guys from Ethiopia. They received a grant for coffee processing and packaging equipment. And in Ethiopia, coffee is a strategic raw material. UNHCR purchased this equipment for them. But they themselves rented the premises, made repairs there and generally put it in order, installed the equipment, purchased the raw materials themselves, fried them, mixed them and sold them to distributors.

I call such people twice as heroes. Firstly, they managed to survive when they fled their country. What they experience on the way, not even all of them tell, because such a thing cannot be told without the listener’s heart stopping from horror... And, secondly, they managed to arrange their life here, in Ukraine, with its laws , difficulties, crises. And not only arrange, but also open even a small, but own business, thereby filling the country's budget.