These women's stories will remind you why you need to keep caring about the refugee crisis 2

As the refugee crisis continues and millions of people are still forced to flee their homes in search of safety, these women are sharing their stories to raise awareness of why you need to keep caring. 

Here you can read interviews I did on my recent #fieldwork trip to #Serbia with CARE International UK. We were interviewing #mothers with small #children about the dangers they face fleeing #ISIS controlled #Syria and #Iraq to Europe.

(Image of Dana and her son. Credit: Emma Saville) 

'MY CHILDREN HAVE NEVER PLAYED IN A PARK OR SEEN A GARDEN - THEY ONLY KNOW WAR': Dana, 37, from Syria

'In Syria, you might die one day from a bomb, but on this journey you can die every single day. People ask me if I regret making this journey, and the answer is yes. If I could send a message home to people trying to flee Syria, I would tell them not to do it.

I’m trying to reach my daughter, Basma, who is currently in Austria with my sister. Two years ago we sent her away to Germany to keep her safe. Men and women from different groups kept approaching her, telling her to join them and to fight. She was only seven years old, and she was seeing such horrifying things. Walking down the street one day we came across dead women’s bodies dumped at the side of the road. Some were decapitated, some had their hands or legs cut off. They had long hair like we did.

I was so terrified for her safety that I asked my sister to take her to Germany. I hoped that when things got better, she would be able to come back and we could return to how we were living before. But things didn’t get better, they only got worse.

Before the war, I was so happy. I lived in a beautiful home with my husband and two children, and we had a good life. I worked as a school teacher and my husband had a good position in the army. After the revolution began, my youngest son was born. We named him Salam, which means peace.

But after the revolution everything changed. Aeroplanes came and bombed everything. It didn’t matter what they hit, and it didn’t matter if we died. Children were forced to fight; schools were closed, and no-one felt safe anymore.

Extremists came to our area about one year after the war started. One day after that, my husband just disappeared. I've not heard any news about him since. Shortly after that, I was beaten in the marketplace because I’d lifted up my veil for a second to see a child’s toy I wanted to buy. I was so frightened, and I knew we had to leave.

All my boys have ever known is war. They haven’t had a good day, or seen a garden or played in a park. They’re just children, but they’ve only ever seen planes and airstrikes and fear and terror. And heads lying on the ground.

We left Syria in April this year in the middle of the night. If the army or other armed groups had caught us, we would have been killed. We walked for 10 hours to reach the Turkish border. I had to carry Salam, my two-year-old, all the way. His legs were too little to walk so far.

Eventually, I felt the only way I could reach Serbia was by putting our lives in the hands of smugglers. They locked us in a house for a few days without food or water, we weren’t allowed to make a sound. I’d heard that they sometimes sell children’s organs on the black market, so I stayed awake all night every night - terrified they were going to steal my sons if I didn’t pay them enough money.

Now I'm in a camp here, waiting to hear when we will be allowed to cross into Hungary. From there we will move on to Austria to join my daughter. Every night when I thank God I thank him for Germany and Austria. They have opened their doors to refugees. We didn't leave our country for the love of Germany or just to have a better life. We left because we didn’t want to die.

At the moment, nobody has told me when we'll be allowed over the border. Having to rely on smugglers was the worst and most terrifying part of this journey so far, but if I have to do it again to get to my daughter, I will. If you have a target in front of you and you’re set on it, you’re going to make it eventually. We will get there."
Read more at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/554484/refugee-summit-2016-women-s-stories-from-syria.html#kt6Cpkr4qOYEuKlH.99

The world's first Refugee Summit is taking place on September 19th in New York. Support women like Dana and Nadia at www.careinternational.org.uk

Want to help? Sign the petition here: http://action.careinternational.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.campaign.id=53447&ea.client.id=93

#conflict #war # refugees #persecution #refugeeswelcome #CARE4refugees