Jihan’s Story, Greece
Like so many others, 34-year-old Jihan was willing to risk everything in order to escape war-torn Syria and find safety for her family. Unlike most, she is blind.
Jihan embraces her five-year-old son, Ahmed, as Mohammad, who is seven, strolls on the boardwalk by the harbour in Lavrio, Greece. Their dreary accommodation at Lavrion camp nearby is a world away from the picturesque tourist town. Photo by UNHCR/A. D’Amato/2014.
Nine months ago, she fled Damascus with her husband, Ashraf, 35, who is also losing his sight. Together with their two sons, they made their way to Turkey, boarding a boat with 40 others and setting out on the Mediterranean Sea. They hoped the journey would take eight hours. There was no guarantee they would make it alive.
After a treacherous voyage that lasted 45 hours, the family finally arrived at a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, called Milos – miles off course. Without support or assistance, they had to find their own way to Athens. The police detained them for four days upon their arrival. They were cautioned to stay out of Athens, as well as three other Greek cities, leaving them stranded.
Jihan, Mohammad and Ahmed stand by the harbour in the picturesque tourist town of Lavrio, Greece. However, this is no holiday. The water reminds Jihan of their dangerous journey and the monumental risk they took for a chance at a better life. Photo by UNHCR/A. D’Amato/2014.
By now destitute and exhausted, the family were forced to split up – with Ashraf continuing the journey northwards in search of asylum and Jihan taking their two sons to Lavrion, an informal settlement about an hour’s drive from the Greek capital.
Jihan sits in the courtyard of Lavrion camp in Greece, talking on the phone with her husband, who has received asylum in Denmark. Wiping her tears, she shares with him her worries about the children’s education and reuniting the family. Photo by UNHCR/A. D’Amato/2014.
Today, Jihan still waits to be reunited with her husband, who has since been granted asylum in Denmark. The single room she shares with her two sons, Ahmed, 5, and Mohammad, 7, is tiny, and she worries about their education. Without an urgent, highly complex corneal transplant, her left eye will close forever.
“We came here for a better life and to find people who might better understand our situation,” she says. “I am so upset when I see how little they do [understand].”
Jihan and her sons eat breakfast on the floor of their one-room home. Back in Syria, she was employed in the public sector, while her husband, Ashraf, taught at Aleppo University. The couple had high ambitions for their children’s education. Now, torn from their homeland, they sit and wait to be reunited. Photo by UNHCR/A. D’Amato/2014.
