Verzweifelter syrischer Flüchtling schwamm von Türkei nach Griechenland – Syrian Refugee swam 7 hours across sea to reach Greece

Flüchtlinge9999999999999999999999zur englischen Version Ameer Mehtr, der früher im syrischen Nationalteam als Schwimmer trainierte, verlor – wie so viele andere Menschen auch – seine Wohnung durch den Krieg in Syrien und begann, darüber nachzudenken, seine Heimat zu verlassen. Er floh in den Libanon, und nachdem er aber nichts besaß, um Schlepper bezahlen zu können, begann er, sein Schwimmtraining wieder aufzunehmen. Mithilfe eines Trainers trainierte er monatelang täglich mehrere Stunden und entschloss sich endlich, den Schwimm-Fluchtversuch zu wagen.

Nur eine Handvoll Besitztümer konnte er mitnehmen – sein Mobiltelefon und einige Computer-Chips mit Fotos seiner Familie und der Heimat band er um seine Taille. Eine Handvoll mit Ingwer umhüllte Datteln in Klarsichtfolie sollten ihm als Energiespender auf der nassen Reise dienen.

Sieben Stunden sollte sein anstrengender Weg durchs Meer dauern. Später sagte er, jede Sekunde fürchtete er, dass es seine letzte sein könnte. Den Blick auf die Klippen vor ihm geheftet, schaffte er es tatsächlich, in Samos an Land zu gehen. Dort wurde er fotografiert: mit ausgebreiteten Armen und glücklichem Gesichtsausdruck.

Seine Reise ging zu Fuß weiter – erst in den Hafen zum Registrieren, dann in Aufnahmelager, wo er einen Monat zubrachte. Später in Zügen voll mit anderen Flüchtlingen, bis er endlich in seiner Wunsch-Destination Schweden ankam, wo er jetzt in einem Lager auf die Antwort auf sein Asylansuchen wartet.

Viele versuchen schwimmend nach Europa zu kommen, erzählt er, allerdings nicht jetzt, da das Wasser dafür viel zu kalt ist.

Anmerkung: 340 Kinder sind seit September im Mittelmeer ertrunken – die Dunkelziffer  dürfte weit drüber sein. 

Flüchtlinge88

Syrian refugee Ameer Mehtr swims for 7 hours to start new life in Europe

The ex-swimmer trained for nearly every day with a coach in the sea off the coast of Beirut to make the crossing

Ameer Mehtr swan for seven hours to reach Greece from Turkey Ameer Mehtr

A desperate Syrian refugee has revealed how he braved massive waves and deadly currents to swim for seven hours to reach Greece from Turkey.

Ameer Mehtr explained he did not have enough money to pay smugglers to transport him to Europe after his family lost their home and were left penniless as a result of the five-year civil war ravaging his homeland.

Having previously trained with the Syrian national swimming team in the capital Damascus, Mr Mehtr realised his only chance of starting a new life in the EU was to take his chances swimming the four miles across the Aegan Sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Samos.

The refugee, whose age was not clear, spent several months preparing for the perilous crossing, training nearly every day with a swimming coach in the sea off the coast of Lebanese capital Beirut, where he had been living after fleeing Syria in May.

It was not until September that he felt ready to attempt the crossing, having spent time studying maps of the Aegan to work out the shortest route between Turkey and Samos.

I’m far from the only one who has made this journey – there are many more who have been swimming

On the night he finally took to the water near the town of Guzelcamli, Mr Mehtr said he had to run for more than an hour to evade Turkish police officers who line the beach looking for people smugglers.

Already exhausted, the risk of being caught meant Mr Mehtr was forced to start swimming as soon as he entered the water wearing only swimming trunks, a swimming cap, goggles and a nose clip.

A handful of personal possessions, including a telephone and several computer chips filled with old photographs of his family and homeland, were tied to his waist. Mr Mehtr also carried a handful of ginger-flavoured dates wrapped in cling film – his only source of energy and nutrition on the journey.

“Every second of the way I thought I was going to die,” he told The Sunday Times, who he spoke to from an asylum centre in Sweden.

“But I kept going. I just kept looking at the cliffs in front of me and thinking ‘Here is my future’,” he said.

Against all odds, Mr Mehtr eventually made it to Samos, where he was photographed standing triumphantly on the shore with his arms outstretched and a large smile on his face.

His ordeal was far from over, however, as he had to walk for seven miles before reaching a port where he could be officially registered with EU officials as a refugee.

He then spent a month living in European refugee camps and travelling on trains packed with migrants to reach Sweden.

Mr Mehtr is now living in an asylum centre in the Scandinavian nation, where he claimed his story was certainly not unique.

“I’m far from the only one who has made this journey – there are many more who have been swimming,” he said.

We have a Facebook group and from my bed in Sweden, I have told several how to pack and how to think in order to make the transition… But right now, no one swims, it’s too cold in the water.”

source


Netzfrau Lisa Natterer

deutsche Flagge

Die zahlreichen Krisenherde in der Welt – viele Länder versinken im Krieg

WAFFEN FÜR DIE WELT – Das Geschäft mit dem Krieg boomt – Export außer Kontrolle

Festung Europa – Sackgasse Balkan – Geschlossene Grenzen und Tränengas – Tragödien in Griechenland

Kinder auf der Flucht – vermisst,verschleppt, ausgebeutet und missbraucht

Verzweiflung auf der Flucht – „Wir wollen einfach nur die Freiheit, wir wollen nur Frieden“

1 Kommentar » Schreibe einen Kommentar

Schreibe einen Kommentar

Pflichtfelder sind mit * markiert.