{"id":7159,"date":"2021-06-15T11:22:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T11:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/?p=7159"},"modified":"2021-06-17T07:49:02","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T07:49:02","slug":"from-afghan-war-refugee-to-refugee-rights-campaigner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/from-afghan-war-refugee-to-refugee-rights-campaigner\/","title":{"rendered":"From Afghan war refugee to refugee rights campaigner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Syed’s story – and what pizza had to do with it<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Leggi questo articolo in italiano<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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16.06.2021<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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This testimony is part of our <\/em>Europe Welcomes<\/a><\/em> campaign.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Escaping war-torn Afghanistan, Syed saw little humanity\nduring his dangerous journey to Italy. But then, the kindness of a pizza chef\nand an Italian teacher inspired him to stay, complete his University degree and\nfight for refugee rights.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Syed
Syed Hasnain<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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My name is Syed Hasnain.<\/strong> I\u2019m a 32-year-old refugee, born in\nthe Helmand region of Afghanistan. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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When I was just ten years old, my mother helped me to escape Afghanistan because my\nfamily was forcing me to fight for the Taliban during the civil war. I spent four years in Quetta city\nin Pakistan. Later, I went to Iran where I\nstayed for three and a half years. I was arrested, jailed and repatriated by the Iranian\npolice for illegally staying in Iranian\nterritory.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Mountains in Afghanistan, Helmand Province \/ Afghanistan Matters_Flickr CC BY 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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After my\nrepatriation, I succeeded in\nre-entering Iran, crossing along the border to\nget to Turkey. Once\nagain, I had to entrust my life to smugglers\nto get to Greece by boat. It was a long and dramatic journey, but eventually I arrived\nin Athens. The Greek police did not\nwant to take my asylum request. I decided to go to the\nGreek countryside, but there I was the victim\nof labour abuse (as I also was in Iran) for several months. Disappointed by the conditions in Greece, I decided to leave\nthe country. I went to Patras port where I was\nassisted by smugglers to hide myself under the truck near the engine. I was lucky to survive as\nI risked falling down and being hit by the truck. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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I arrived in\nTorrecuso village, in Italy, in\nthe middle of winter. It was very cold. I didn\u2019t know anyone. I\nslept on the streets for a couple of nights. But then, I was fortunate to encounter Mr. Carmine Calabrese, a\npizza chef who trusted me even though I was in a desperate situation. He took me to his pizza shop, and provided me with\nfood, warm clothes and accommodation. He treated me\nlike a human, and his kind behaviour – for the first time in my long journey – made me feel welcomed. I\nhad intended to continue on to the UK, but this act of kindness changed my\nmind. I decided to stay in Italy. It goes to\nshow that the kind\nand welcoming act of a single person can have a huge impact on someone\u2019s life. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\u201cMaking refugees welcome means making them feel at home and motivating them in their pathway to integration.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Syed
Syed Hasnain in Rome<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Later, I\nmoved to Rome where I asked\nfor asylum. This was the start of a new life. The recognition of my refugee status gave me the legal right\nto stay in Italian territory. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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When I was\nlearning Italian, one of my teachers, called Cesare, encouraged me to continue\nmy high school education. He was very kind, and we visited\na technical night school together. I decided to apply\nfor admission. It was quite hard in the beginning\nbecause I was living in a reception centre for refugees. The reception\ncentre had strict rules and a timetable for all services, including meal times.\nBy the time I got home to the centre after night school, it was late and so I went\nto bed without dinner. After a year, I got a\njob. I left the refugee camp and rented a\nhouse. For a while, I was juggling both my job and my studies. I graduated from high school in\n2012.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Syed
Syed Hasnain graduating from Sapienza University, Rome, 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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After that, I started University. I\ngraduated in Political Science and International Relations from the University\nof Sapienza in Rome. My thesis was on the Participation of refugees in policy-making\nprocesses<\/strong>. I dedicated my graduation to my lovely mom, because she was the\nperson who saved my life and it\u2019s thanks to\nher who I am today. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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“I have decided to invest my time and energy to do what is within my power, so that no one else goes through what I went through. I am trying to live the right to a safer and better life.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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From the\nvery beginning, after learning Italian, I worked with\nrefugees, asylum seekers and unaccompanied foreign minors as a social worker,\ncultural mediator and legal adviser. I worked with several humanitarian\nNGOs, like Save the Children, Jesuit Refugee Services, the UNHCR, Intersos and\nM\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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In April\n2019, together with six other refugees, I founded the first National Union of Refugees and Exiles in Italy, UNIRE<\/a>. The aim of the refugee-led union is to change the negative and toxic\nnarrative around migration by highlighting the active and positive\nparticipation of refugees in our host societies. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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I am now working as an outreach worker and social media manager with Missing Children Europe on the Miniila App project. Miniila is a mobile application which provides legal information to migrant children and guides them to the nearest organisation providing services for children in eight European countries. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Pizza
Pizza in wood fired oven \/ CC0 noah-holm<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Recently, after much research, I managed to get back in\ncontact with Mr. Calabrese, the pizza chef who had trusted me. I went back to\nthank him for his great humanity and the help I received upon my arrival. It\nwas one of the most emotional moments of my life. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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I am very lucky to have a wonderful family in my partner,\nMaryam, and my son, Taha.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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I went back\nto Pakistan in 2011. And there, after twelve\nlong years, I was finally able to hug my mom\nagain.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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