Caught In Safety-A Syrian Refugee Story

Fathi was tired of the train. They had been stuck on it for hours and he was hungry and grouchy. The hard wooden seat dug into his back and accentuated all the various pains in his small body. The train was supposed to take them to Germany from Austria, where they had run to days ago from the anger directed towards them in Turkey and so forth. The train had stopped hours ago though, and Fathi couldn't understand why. Had another angry mob tried to stop him and the fellow Syrians fleeing their home? They had been promised refuge in Germany from the anger and hatred of the other places they'd fled to; Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Fathi didn't speak any of their languages and understood very little English, much less German. He could rarely understand any of the garbled and angry words directed at him, his brother Nizar, and his mother, Amena. He hadn't done anything. Fathi shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked at his mother next to him. Amena looked worn and tired, but she smiled reassuringly at him and told him it was going to be okay. He grinned back, wholly reassured that they would be safe for another day. With this thought in his head he closed his eyes and drifted off into a light, dreamless sleep.

Fathi felt his body lift off the uncomfortable seat and the sting of cool night air on his warm body. He wanted to thank this person that had relieved him of the seat but he couldn't open his eyes or mouth before he drifted back to sleep, thoroughly exhausted after days of trying to escape the horrors of the world.

When Fathi woke he was on hard ground, but lying on a cloth laid over the bumpy dirt. He opened his eyes to see Amena rocking Nizar in her arms. His mother had told him Nizar was very sick. When he had asked why, she had said to not worry, he would be alright. He did not believe her though. Nizar looked very unwell, much like his father had days before he died. His mother now looked a little bit like Nizar and his father, but he wouldn't think of that. She was just tired. As Fathi moved his head to view his surroundings he noticed he was in a tent that was very badly staked down. It did not look safe. He asked Amena where they were and she told him that they were stuck in a refugee camp in Austria. They were giving them food, water, and shelter. Fathi smiled and said thank you to Allah for their good fortune. His mother did not seem happy about this though. He wondered why. They had supplies and were safe with the other people fleeing the horror of Syria. He decided she must be worried about Nizar. He asked if he could go outside and was given permission as long as he didn't get lost. He laughed. How could you get lost among a couple tents? That was silly. She then told him if he saw the gates open, try and escape them, then go live and blend into the city.She said these camps were not safe and he might get sick or die like his father. He laughed again. Why should he leave? He was safe here...wasn't he?

Fathi left the their small tent and saw why Amena had told him to not get lost. There were tents everywhere you could see. He couldn't even see the end of the tents because a huge cloud of dust hung in the sky. Three of the directions he turned he saw the never ending tents. The fourth direction was a huge chain link fence with sharp wire. Were they trying to trap them in here? Why would they need a fence? They were not goats, they were people. Fathi began to wander in the direction of the first row of never ending tents. His began to sweat under the hot midday sun, but continued to walk instead of turning back to the shady tent. Before long he started to pay attention. There were people around him, many looking sick and tired, some looking as if they were soon to meet death. Many tents were so crowded he wondered how those people could live with all those hot bodies in the same tent. He passed a water station and went to grab a cup, but a hand stopped him. A crazy looking old man screamed in his ear something about not drinking the water because it wasn't clean and he would get sick and die. The man then ran off. Fathi didn't want to believe any crazy old man keeping him from cool water, but remembered that many people died from dirty water. He suddenly wasn't thirsty anymore.

Fathi kept walking and soon could see what Amena was talking about with the gates. Huge threatening gates ended the tall chain link fence. Suddenly, he heard a shout and a cry, saying something about the gates opening to let in some soldiers. Fathi was about to turn to go back to Amena, but remembered what she had said about escaping this camp. He thought back to the bad water, the sick people, and the crowded tents and realized what she meant. He stopped struggling to escape the crowd trying to flee the camp and escape the soldiers guarding the gates and instead allowed himself to be swept along. As soon as he could see the menacing gates up close he ran. Fathi bolted past the guards, them not even noticing the small boy among the crowd. He was now outside of the huge gates and fence that had trapped him. He ran and ran farther and farther from the camp into Austria, until he was in a crowded city. He slipped into an alley to catch his breath. He paused and realized what he'd done. His mother and Nizar were back there. However he knew his mother would be happy about his decision. He thought about how she and Nizar had looked like his father had before death. They would soon be gone and in the afterlife and their tent could be filled with yet another lost, forgotten family. He ached with sadness and allowed himself to mourn, sinking to the darkened alley floor. Once all his tears had dried away though, he began to rejoice. He was free. He was finally free.