337

337

NameGhaith
Gendermale
Country of OriginSyrian Arab Republic
Destination CountryUnited Arab Emirates
Javascript seems to be turned off, or there was a communication error. Turn on Javascript for more display options.
I wanted to come here even before the war in Syria broke out. I wanted a better life, I am an economic migrant. But now I cannot go back, because I would have to do military service for the regime. In a way I am lucky, because most of my family left Syria a long time ago. At the same time it is very hard, were spread all over the world. My parents and one brother live in Saudi Arabia, my sister is in Turkey and my other brother just moved to the United States. It is difficult for us to even be in one place – I could not obtain a visa for my sisters wedding in Turkey. Now we had planned to all move to the USA, but it seems doubtful well get visa to go there. My situation in the Emirates is really bad: The visa is tied to the job, so if I would lose my job, I would have to leave. People here take advantage of the Syrians situation. They know we need the jobs, just to survive, just to not have to go to war, so we are paid way less for more work. Here its more about your passport than about your skills. People on European passports earn two or three times as much as we do. For me its okay for now, Im single, and have only got myself to care for. But you cannot have a family here. One of my friends from Syria came here with his family. He worries about how to pay the bills, the school, everything. He is looking so old now. I feel being in the Arab world as a Syrian, I cannot trust people. I think the people here would just leave me to die. So now Im trying to find a solution, a better place to go to. We never had a bright future ahead of us in Syria. Yet, I think after the war is over many of us will return to rebuild the country with the skills that we learned abroad. What I miss most is being safe. Now I cannot be safe in Syria, but not anywhere else either. I have no safety net. The culture here is very different. In Syria, even in the big cities, people knew their neighbours, here nobody cares. I dont know how to integrate into Emirati Society, there is very few Emiratis here, and they live in a closed society. We Syrians were pushed out of the place called home. But Im trying to focus on the positive aspects that the experience of migrating had on my life: Being a migrant means facing challenges, being pushed, grow faster, in my comfort zone that would not have happened. Yet, I am young and well educated. To other people it can be devastating. To feel the pressure, to have your hopes, plans and your very existence destroyed.

Download XML • Download text • Dependency relations • Named Entity view