s-1
| When the war arrived in our city, Deir Ez-Zor, we started moving from place to place around Syria up until it became too difficult and too dangerous to be there. |
s-2
| We left our homeland for Turkey, where we spent 3 years, living in a camp close to the border with Syria. |
s-3
| The location meant that we never lost contact with the war, we could see the bombings and hear the shelling on the other side of the border. |
s-4
| Mentally, nothing had improved for us and physically, for three years, we were sharing a small tent between six persons. |
s-5
| An ordeal, it was. |
s-6
| The living conditions at the camp and the fact that our children didnt have a chance to further their education in Turkey, made me and my wife take the decision to leave for Europe. |
s-7
| We crossed to Greece on a rubber boat, we stared into the face of death but we managed to arrive on the island of Lesvos. |
s-8
| It was February 2016. |
s-9
| The Greek people have been really supportive to us during a difficult time, this is a memory that will stay. |
s-10
| The worst part in Greece was the time we spent at the northern border, at the makeshift camp of Idomeni. |
s-11
| There was no electricity, we were sleeping on the ground, the toilets were a mess and we could only cook on a fire, in the open. |
s-12
| After seven months we moved to the accommodation centre of Koutsohero, close to Larissa in central Greece, which was a vast improvement for us. |
s-13
| We left Koutsohero only last night and arrived here directly. |
s-14
| Tomorrow, we will fly to the Netherlands. |
s-15
| We have friends and family in the Netherlands, so we are happy that we will relocate there. |
s-16
| My wifes siblings have relocated there about 2.5 months ago under the same EU scheme and we can hardly wait to meet them again. |
s-17
| Our family says that the people of the Netherlands are kind to them, they treat them fairly and they are happy. |
s-18
| I used to be a farmer in Syria and I hope I will be able to find something similar to do in the Netherlands, I know that it has a very strong agricultural sector. |
s-19
| My wife is a teacher and we have four children together: Noor is 20 years old and she wishes to attend university. |
s-20
| Ammar, my boy, is 18 and the twins, Bashar and Manar, are 13. |
s-21
| The main thing for us is to finally have a sense of stability. |
s-22
| We have been emotionally scarred by the war, the slightest noise makes us jump from our seats. |
s-23
| For our young daughter it is even worse, she suffers from severe psychological trauma and she needs assistance. |
s-24
| Furthermore, we wish that our children will be able to finally go back to school and as for us, we hope to find a job to be able to support them. |
s-25
| It is very important to have some stability in life. |
s-26
| Without it, how can one make plans for the future and set goals?. |