{"id":6978,"date":"2021-05-06T10:04:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T10:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/?p=6978"},"modified":"2021-05-06T14:33:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T14:33:40","slug":"the-journey-of-young-refugee-claire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/the-journey-of-young-refugee-claire\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Moria refugee camp to the Belgian countryside:"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The journey of young refugee Claire<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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06.05.2021<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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This testimony is part of our <\/em>Europe Welcomes<\/a><\/em> campaign. We thank Caritas Belgium for sharing it with us.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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After a fire destroyed the refugee camp in Moria (Greece) where she had been staying, Claire* and ten other unaccompanied minors were relocated to Belgium<\/a>. Claire was fostered by Wim and his family, on their farm in the Belgian countryside.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Family
Family photo in Londerzeel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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It\nmust have been a shock – after the overcrowding, the dirt and the makeshift\ntents of Europe\u2019s largest refugee camp – when Claire landed at a cold and empty\nBrussels airport in December 2020. \u201cAnd from the airport straight to our farm\nin the Belgian countryside,\u201d Wim adds. This came as a surprise to the 12-year old\nCongolese girl. \u201cShe mainly associated Belgium with Brussels. The city. Well,\nwhere we live, Londerzeel \u2013 it\u2019s a village, if there ever was one!\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\u201cOf course, it\u2019s not easy, having a\nnewcomer to the family.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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This,\nindeed, was a first challenge in terms of expectation management. But Wim, his\nwife, four children and his live-in father were determined. \u201cFunny for such a\nyoung girl how she associated the countryside with poverty, with the unknown,\nthe dangerous, the emptiness.\u201d But that countryside was less empty than she\nimagined. Wim works as a farrier and runs a horse stud farm together with his\nwife. \u201cAnd there is a lot to see and do on our farm. Busy days!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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A new life in Londerzeel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Although\nthat farm life was already busy, the idea grew last year to apply as a foster\nfamily for unaccompanied minors. \u201cWe already had some experience in taking care\nof a foster child, but this time we also wanted to make an explicit commitment\nto unaccompanied minors.\u201d Partly as a continuation of solidarity that they have\nbeen showing for several years for transmigrants in Brussels, partly prompted\nby the feeling of wanting to do something more.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\u201cOf\ncourse it\u2019s not easy, having a newcomer to the family. And of course it demands\nthe necessary attention for everyone\u2019s feelings and doubts \u2013 often a delicate\nbalance.\u201d Wim makes no bones about it when he reflects on the greatest\nchallenges. \u201cIt demands a lot from all family members. But that is recognizable\nfor all large families, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\u201cDoing something is better than doing nothing.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Every\nday, Claire takes the train to school. \u201cIn the nearest town, where she is in a\nspecial class for underage foreigners. In Dutch!\u201d Thankfully, Claire picks up\nDutch very quickly \u2013 she\u2019s clearly an intelligent girl.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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She\nhasn\u2019t been in the country very long, and the challenges sometimes seem more\nvisible than the rest, but there are many beautiful moments. \u201cThose moments\nwhen her defensive shield seems to melt. When you feel it clicks. When she\nstarts to speak openly. With the other children. With her foster mom. When we\nget to see the girl in her \u2013 the girl she usually tucks away carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\u201cBy welcoming Claire, I feel we contribute\nto the necessary solidarity that seems to be lacking at the political level.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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What\ndoes it mean for Wim personally to welcome Claire into his family? \u201cYou have to\ndo<\/em> something. You have to try,\u201d says Wim. \u201cBut of course we have no\nguarantee whatsoever whether this will all work out. But doing something<\/em> is better than doing nothing.<\/strong> Doing\nnothing, well \u2013 perhaps too loaded a word \u2013 but that equals guilty neglect. No,\nbetter to try<\/em> something. And daring to do so brings satisfaction.\nEspecially when you see her flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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migrant camp greece\/ CC0 julie-ricard<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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\u201cOf\ncourse, looking after Claire also comes with making very difficult decisions.\nAnd we\u2019re happy that we can count on the help of the professional guardians of\nCaritas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\u201cWe are all human, right?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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What\nabout what is happening at the borders of Europe \u2013 in Greece, in Italy? \u201cHonestly?\nI find myself zapping away sometimes. By\nwelcoming Claire, I feel we contribute to the necessary solidarity that seems\nto be lacking at the political level.<\/strong> It makes me angry. It\u2019s shameful. Sometimes\nI just can\u2019t watch it anymore. We are\nall human, right?<\/strong> How is it possible that Europe has organized itself so\nquickly in recent months to find a solution to the COVID-19 crisis?\nRevolutionary! Incredibly quick and coordinated. And yet, after all these\nyears, they still can\u2019t find a solution for the camps in Greece? Even 100 years\nago we managed better. It\u2019s a travesty.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Nonetheless,\nWim continues to believe. \u201cIn the goodness of man. Of men<\/em> \u2013 plural. In\nour shared humanity. And nothing better reminds us of the latter than the way\nin which we see this Congolese girl finding her place in the Belgian\ncountryside \u2013 even if it\u2019s just for now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Claire
Claire in the Belgian countryside<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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(*Name has been changed.)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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