Women in Serbia share their stories about helping refugees as many recall being displaced themselves.“When I first started working as an interpreter at the Asylum Info Centre, it was just a job for me. My native language is Urdu, which many Afghans happen to understand. I was never involved in humanitarian work. In Pakistan, my home country, I taught English literature.
But then I found myself confronted with these people whose problems were overwhelming. And I realised I needed to be much more than an interpreter; I needed to know about immigration laws, about institutions, about medical aid.
The authorities say: ‘We can handle a refugee crisis, we did it before during the Yugoslav wars.’ But it’s not the same thing. These people come from totally different cultures; they can’t even read the road signs.
So I was thrown in the middle of all these desperate people, handling all these situations, some of which are life-threatening. What can you do when people are seriously ill, but refuse to go to a hospital because all they want is to move on?
I came to Serbia because I married a Serbian man, but I haven’t forgotten where I come from. In Pakistan, I have seen Afghan refugees ever since I was a girl. Little Afghan kids going barefoot, their families selling all their belongings in order to survive. When people say that Afghans are not real refugees, it hurts me. Their country is destroyed.
The right to seek asylum is a fundamental human right. But many countries on the route are just trying to get rid of refugees and deny them this right. They don’t really treat them as people.
In the case of Pakistanis, they are all called economic migrants. But you cannot automatically assume that a Pakistani is not a genuine asylum seeker. There are many groups in Pakistan that face persecution and discrimination.
I am now working around the clock. I am not getting enough sleep, and often I forget to eat. Today was my day off, but there was a case of eight young Afghans who were threatened with deportation. So I spent three hours in the police station with them.
Before I started working here, I had no idea how much this work would mean to me. I never knew I could be so committed.”
Read more at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/women-helping-refugees-serbia-160308064704131.html
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