Not a single day has gone by the last months without a call and a message from a desperate young refugee. The Corona-pandemic has made the situation worse for asylum seekers all over Europe. Hearings of immigrants are delayed and the process is halting. The young people that contact us have no support from the …
In the year 2017, 31.000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum in the EU. In 2015, it was 95.200. Wherever we go, regardless of which country we visit, this group is mentioned. It is clear that their faith and future are of concern to many volunteers and practitioners. Without networks, often with trauma from their place of origin …
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the giver of Mercy. It is the night before Ramadan. Me and my children are decorating our home and we are all anticipating the month of fasting to start. “Oh you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, …
In response to the Corona-pandemic, UN secretary António Guterres called for a worldwide ceasefire, saying: “Our world faces a common enemy: COVID-19. The virus does not care about ethnicity or nationality, faction or faith. It attacks all, relentlessly. Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world. The most vulnerable — women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the …
– Please, my children were born here, they know nothing about Afghanistan or any other country. It is January 27th 2020. I am in Malmö to participate in a meeting concerning migration, titled Keeping our humanity. We have just attended a memorial ceremony, lit candles and remembered the victims of WW2, and moved on to …
Sitting at Arlanda airport, speaking on the phone with my partner, I notice an older lady walking towards me. I move my jacket and backpack to make more room for her. She mutters something in Swedish, politely I pause my conversation and say: “I beg your pardon?” She lashes out at me: ‘’You come here and …
I hear the sound of raindrops on the roof. The storm blows strongly and shakes the broken window of the tiny living room in which I am laying. I can hardly hear the snoring sound of my friend Ajmal, the tenant of the apartment, from the other room, because of the storm. The horrifying sound …
After being in Sweden for slightly over a year, I moved in to a shared house. In this household, we were four foreigners and one Swede. Every year we celebrated midsummer together like an odd and loving family. One midsummer party, I had as usual made the hummus and baba ghanoujfor starters, unaware of the full …
Pesach is a Jewish holiday that begins on the 14th of the Jewish month of Nissan. This year, April 8. It lasts for 7 or 8 days, depending on where one lives, with the focal point on the first two evenings, when we gather for a ritual feast called a seder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZMHcjDBY14&feature=youtu.be Today, Pesach is …
My colleagues drove me around the Stockholm county in my desperate attempts to find accommodation. No, the state doesn’t offer refugees any equity in housing. Finally, I found a place to share with a French housemate, through common friends, and was hosting a small house warming party. One of my colleagues, still wearing a tracking device on his ankle …
