One of the Yazidi families from Iraq was among thousands of migrants who came to Belarus hoping to get into the European Union. Hussein, a 36-year-old Yezidi, with his wife Guzal and mother Niama survived difficult days in the cold forests of Belarus, hoping to start a new life in Europe, but despite the unsuccessful attempt, they believe that all the difficulties were worth it after the tragedies experienced at home.
Hussein's family spent several years of their lives in a displaced persons camp in Sharia, east of Mosul, when they heard about the possibility of reaching Germany through Belarus, they collected all their savings, sold their valuables and paid several thousand dollars to Kurdish smugglers.
Travel to Europe
The story of Hussein's family began like this, first they left by bus to Turkey, and from there by plane to Minsk (the capital of Belarus) and from here hoping to get to Poland or Lithuania on foot.
On the first day of their arrival, the family had to stop by the apartment that the so-called company was supposed to book for them, but this was not done and Hussein, his wife and mother remained on the street.
"It was very cold, so we rented a room at our own expense, and it cost us $100 per night. The next day we set off, no longer alone, a large group of people gathered, who were waiting at the agreed meeting place with smugglers who were supposed to help us cross the border on foot through the dense forests. The so-called guide did not know the way, we walked very long and fast, I was very worried about my mother, as she has sore legs. Families with children had an even harder time," Hussein recalls.
According to the man, they reached Poland twice during their three weeks in Belarus, but the police returned them both times.
After the first attempt to cross the border of Belarus and Poland through the harsh forests, Guzala's health deteriorated, the doctor brought by the Belarusian border guard said that fatigue, frostbite and hunger affected her health, in addition, the young woman had panic attacks and fear, she was afraid that they would get lost and die in the deep forests like others.
Hussein also saw how the Belarusian authorities help people cross the border and get directly to Poland. 600 people, including four relatives of Hussein's family, crossed the border with the help of Belarusian border guards. After that, all those who tried to do this were beaten.
Hussein continues: "The Belarusian authorities have transferred another 200 migrants to different border areas, some of them were transferred to the area bordering Lithuania.
It was no longer allowed to return to Minsk. If they would only let us go back to the city and rest and eat a little, we would have made it to Germany, but we were trapped there, it was raining at zero temperature, we were just afraid to die there."
In the end, more than a month after leaving the country, the family had no money left. At that time, they were allowed to return to Minsk in order to return to Iraq on November 18 together with 400 people who wanted to return by private plane.
When Hussey, Guzal and Niama arrived at Erbil airport in Kurdistan, they did not have the means to travel to Sharia camp, they sat on the sidewalk at the airport until they were met by a taxi driver who took pity on them and took them to the camp.
After spending more than three terrible weeks at the border, the family returned to the so-called "home", having previously spent all their savings on "the hope of getting into the EU", but despite all the difficulties they had to go through, as soon as there is a new opportunity to leave for European countries, they will use it again. This is because life in the camps for Yazidi refugees in Iraq can be compared to the life of Jewish prisoners in Nazi camps.

Source BBC