Page 65 - MY Book - My Voice

My travel towards safetyAfter my father disappeared, life got really di cult. A friend of my father came to me and said that from now on, I had to look after my family, to be strong and not cry. I got a job as a weaver in a carpet factory.After a while, my mother told me it was too dangerous for me to stay. She asked me to travel to Europe, to study, to get an education, to be safe. She said that hopefully they, my mother and siblings, would be able to join me later. I left my family and Hazara Town and started my journey towards a new life.The rst ve days, through Baluchistan, I walked. Sometimes I got a ride with a car. Because I was small, they placed me in the trunk of the car. Baluchistan is all stony, dry, and dangerous.Through Iran, we were 20 people crammed together in a pickup. On top of all of us, the driver loaded fruits to hide us. The smugglers hit and kicked us and threatened us all the time.Through Turkey, we were hidden in another car, and when we came to Istanbul, we were moved to the basement of a building. We were many people in the small room, almost without food and water, waiting for a ship going to Europe. Many people got sick.After 30 days in the basement, we were taken on-board a big ship. We were hidden under deck, in four groups, according to which country we came from. The Russian crew were aggressive and violent, and the Afghans had to take a lot of harassment. Below deck, it was dark and almost no air, and almost no food or water. After seven days, in the middle of the night, the ship docked in a deserted area, and we were told that we had arrived in Italy and chased ashore. I was so thin and sick and could hardly move. We were a big group that started to walk along the road in the dark. We could hear dogs barking, and suddenly some people appeared and then the police came. The Italian police were kind, smiling and joking. We were taken to a refugee center and given clothes and food, and I was taken to a doctor. For the rst time I didn’t face discrimination and racism because I am a Hazaran.After 4–5 days I moved on, by train. Since I speak some English, the smuggler handed me some money and asked me to buy train tickets to Norway for myself and another guy. Somewhere through Europe, the other guy was caught by the police and taken away, and I continued alone. When I walked out of the train at Oslo central station, I felt a hard grip around my arm, and I got handcu s on, for the rst time in my life, just like a criminal. It wasn’t removed until we reached the police station. Then I was moved to Mysebu transittmottak and then moved again to Hvalstad mottak.Last week I had my interview with UDI, and today I have been granted asylum in Norway.63