My palms clam up as I sit at my desk, open up my computer and wait. After a week chock-full of uncomfortable but vital conversations about racial injustice, police brutality and protesting following the May 25 murder of George Floyd, I prepare for the latest conversation I will have on this topic. When I pluck …
The night was dark and scary, the waves of the Aegean Sea were gigantic and the engine of the broken boat was dead. The heart breaking screams of the women and children in the boat when the waves hit the boat was mixed with the terrifying sound of the lightning, sending shocking waves to my …
From a Simple School to a Humanitarian Institution Read More »
– My dreams recently begin with a text message from the migration agency, saying that a letter has been sent to me. The feeling of happiness that I may have gotten my resident permit is beautiful! It is Friday and I am sitting by the beach Kaananbadet in Stockholm, Sweden, talking on the phone with …
“France Doesn’t Play Around with Refugees which Sweden Does” Read More »
“In the moments of despair, cast your eyes to the summer sky and let go of what worries you!” When I was twelve and I still believed that miracles could happen, I read this on the back of a bus in Ankara, Turkey. For the past eight years I’ve been reciting that quote first thing …
– 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 …
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 …
Robert Örell, a former neo-nazi, today a leading expert on deradicalization and countering violent extremism, became a close friend of Ola Saleh short after she came to Sweden as a refugee. I sought asylum in Sweden in July 2013. I was hosted by a Swedish-Palestinian woman my age for a few months, a few determining …
The Ex-es: Former Neo-Nazi and Ex-Criminal Friends Read More »
