I was part of this event today organised by my dear friend and comrade Sairah Yassir as part of Manchester Histories Festival 2016 which took place at Manchester Central Library. We heard the real stories behind the headlines, from survivors of war, past and present now residing in Manchester.
We listened to Dudia Zilic and her son Aldin retell their harrowing journey from Sarajevo to safety. Under raining bombs, during the dead of night, they hid in the back of a timber truck with no food or water while it meandered through the hills switching off it's lights.
We heard Yasser Al-Jassem from the British Syrian Community of Manchester share his treacherous journey who told us how he had fled Syria having to leave his family behind. He was a wanted man and death awaited him at every corner, so he took to the sea in a boat. He was a teacher in his country and his only wish was to return one day.
Ali Ilyas shared his powerfully intense spokenword poem about who we blame for the refugee crisis, and that perhaps if we understood what it is that they run from, then we would have a different opinion or perspective.
I only managed to finish my poem last night, but I wanted to humanise the word "refugee". If only we could be more empathic, and see them as the people they truly are, with their own narratives, families and histories, unlike what some media would like us to believe, then this word would not feel as much as the slur it feels today.
If we could stop the wars then there would be no refugees. They didn't, and don't have any desire to leave, but while bombs keep falling they are left with no other choice.
May we see change soon.
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