Valid for Travel
In 2011, within the context of the Arab Spring, the Syrian people commenced protests against the government, leading to a nationwide unrest which still continues. Amplified by the expansion of ISIS, the situation has become dramatic, leaving individuals and families with no other option than a nomadic life that they did not choose. Hoping to find a better and safer life, many Syrians seek to find refuge in the United Kingdom, but the trip from Syria to the United Kingdom is strewn with obstacles.
'Valid for Travel' is a project that has been built up as an extended documentary series focusing on the condition of Syrian refugees in the United Kingdom. Currently it is estimated that around 5.6 million Syrians have left their country and that approximately 17000 have chosen the United Kingdom as shelter. ‘Valid for travel’ brings together a range of photographic images and personal testimonies as a means to engage with this issue beyond the simplified stereotypes created around immigration. The project aims to raise awareness of the situation in which these people have been put, fleeing the conflict in their homeland.
Throughout the process I have conducted a series of interviews and negotiated portraits with a number of Syrian refugees who have recently arrived in the UK. Photographs have played an important role in how these men have told their own stories that include family photographs, keepsakes they have brought with them from home, while other images taken on mobile phones document the conditions they have endured as refugees. ‘Valid for travel’ therefore stands as a collaborative document that depicts the experience of migration, covering aspects of the Syrians’ pre departure life, their journey and their current liminal status.
“ I spent 3 days on a ship between Libya and Italy, sharing my trip with 800 other people. Eventually the Italian Coast Guard noticed our ferry and they sent three military ships to rescue us. After being put in the camps they wanted to photograph us and take our fingerprints. I refused and one night, at 5am, I ran away from the camp. I went straight away to the rail station, but I was stopped by Police and asked for a passport. I had a paper from the camp, from the Italian army, saying that I am a refugee, and they thought I was legally ok and they let me go. I went to Nice and then to Paris, in France. I spent 15 days in Paris as a homeless person. After I arrived in Calais I managed to hide in the back of a lorry and cross the Channel. My situation here is complicated because I don’t have any education. Therefore it is almost impossible for me to find a job. How can I live here? ”
“ I was 17 and in my final year of high school, getting ready for my final exams… I am from a village called Basuta and I was supposed to go take my exams in Aleppo. Because of the war and the bad situation of this city there was no chance to go there. I stayed home and I kept studying hoping that I could take the exams the following year; unfortunately the situation was worse. My parents realised that Syria would not get back to normal soon, therefore they decided to send me away. One of the reasons was the fact that I don’t have an army document as I didn’t undertake the military service. I could have been accused of hiding my military documents from the governmental army, either because I would try to avoid the battle or because I would be in the rebel army.
I left Syria illegally and I initially went to Izmir, Turkey. I stayed there for one month and fifteen days. After that I tried to travel to Greece. First time I was stopped on the sea by the Greek police and sent back to Turkey, having to sleep outside, in the mountains. The second time the agent that I and other 33 people paid for the trip joined us, too. When we were approaching the Greek police, this person had a knife and he made a whole in the inflatable boat, so the coast guard would save us and take us to the shore. The police took us to a place that was supposed to be a refugee camp but it was more like a prison, being retained there for 14 days. Eventually they send us to Athens. I was lucky that I knew some family friends there and I could live with them.
The first day after I arrived in Athens I was stopped by the local police and arrested just because I was Syrian; they wanted to check if the documents I had with me are genuine (a letter supplied from the refugee camp that certifies my refugee status). I had to wait for 7 hours until a person actually checked my papers and conclude that they are not fake. After a while I and my friends found an agent in Athens who helped us get on a trip to Italy. We took a lorry but the police found us and they put us in prison for 5 days. Afterwards they sent us back to Athens. After two weeks I tried again. This time the lorry was very small and we were supposed to hide in very tight cardboard boxes.
I had to spend around one hour in a box while crossing the border. I spent 24 hours in the lorry because it was travelling on a ferry. When we reached Italy we had to hide in those boxes again, just to be sure we won’t be found at the checkpoint. After I arrived in Italy I tried to get in touch with two of my friends who travelled the same way. I called the agent from Greece to ask about them. He told me that they passed away in the cardboard boxes.
The time spent in Italy was horrible. People were asking for 100 Euros per night just to let me sleep in their house. But I was finally free. Police didn’t know anything about me and after a while I went to France. I slept in Dunkirk for two nights in a forest close to the town. On 5th of December 2014 I jumped in a fridge in the back of a lorry. I crossed the Channel and I eventually arrived in Britain "
I left Syria on 26 June 2014. I and my wife went to Lebanon and then we flew to Algeria. We didn’t need a visa, but we had to have 4000 dollars in a bank account or cash. After we arrived in Algiers we went to a place called Oued Souf, trying to find an agent. We found someone who offered to help us travel from Algeria to Libya. Firstly we took a coach and this trip was 16 hours long. Afterwards we walked for 9 more hours through Sahara Desert. After taking two more coaches and walking a bit in between we reached a house. This building was in a very poor condition and we were 52 people sharing two bedrooms. We spent the night in there. In the morning the agent asked us to pay him before starting the journey towards Libya. Each person paid 350 dollars and then we left. After a while we reached some cars that took us to Libya. The pick-up that I was in was packed, full of people. Families, children… It was very dangerous, especially for people standing on the edges of the car that were always close to falling. The agent who helped us travel from Algeria to Libya is called Muhammad Ousala.
When we crossed the border, there was a group of agents waiting for us and almost selling their ‘service’. They were telling us how the journey would be if we would pick them and how much it would cost. All these agents had bodyguards with them, all having weapons. After we chose our agent, Mustafa, we spent one night in the middle of the desert. He promised he would take us to a ferry that would go to Italy. We paid 400 dollars per person so that he would take us from the desert towards the North part of Libya. For the ferry trip we also had to pay 1100 dollars. We were in Debdeb and we had to go to Zuwarah. We were put in some minivans owned by the agent. The vehicles were full of people again and it was very, very hot. The driver of the car that we were in was probably 12 years old. Moreover, he also had a gun with him. After a long trip, two days including breaks, we arrived in Zuwarah. We had a rest for four days, staying in a house that was hosting 500 people. After four days we were supposed to go and take the ferry to Italy. At first we had to walk through the water until it reached our necks. We reached some infl atable boats that had to take us to the big ferry. When we got to the ferry we realised it was full and the agent told us to go back to the shore, for our own safety. We were sent to a different house this time, waiting for the next occasion to take a ferry. Here, every 5 people were sharing a very small portion of food: a pack of beans, a can of tuna, a small piece of cheese and some bread. Fresh food would cost us money, 100 dollars, but that meant one loaf of bread and a bar of chocolate.
Eventually we got to our ferry. We were told that a life vest would cost 50 dollars. Fortunately, we had our own vests bought at the beginning of the trip, in Lebanon. The sea trip was very difficult: a lot of people suffered from seasickness and few other had unnecessary arguments because of the stress. After three days on the sea the Red Cross detected our ship and they helped us. They took us to Lampedusa and then to Verona, Italy. They offered us accommodation in a hotel in Verona for a night, when we had the chance to run away. The plan was to go to the United Kingdom. We managed to go through Italy, Switzerland and arrive in Calais, France. Firstly, we tried to hide in the back of a car and cross the Channel but the police caught us. We tried again because we found an agent who promised we would surely get to the United Kingdom with his help. He asked for 1500 Euro per person. We waited in a parking space for 9 hours, hoping to be able to hide in a lorry. We had no chance over there because there were people telling the lorry drivers about us. We tried so many other times in Dunkirk (France), Netherlands or Belgium but it was very hard. Eventually we met a smuggler from Albania who helped us cross the Channel. We had to pay 12000 pounds for this journey (the money came from my family), but it was a safe journey in a lorry that took us to London.
S.