“I swear to you, we were two steps away from Greece.”
— S.D. Iraq

The respondent and her family tried to cross from Turkey to Greece 3 times. The first time, they tried to cross to Samos by plastic boat, from Izmir, Turkey. There were 30 people on the boat, the majority of them Syrians. While they were at sea, the respondent stated they had passed the border into Greece. But after crossing, a Turkish boat came and fired gunshots towards the boat and into the sky. One of those aboard the Turkish boat was carrying a long piece of wood with sharp knives on it. As the Turkish boat came closer to theirs, the respondent stated that the piece of wood with sharp knives was being used to attempt to poke holes in their boat. The respondent claims they were about 100 meters from Greek land

‘We knew we had crossed the border, but it didn’t matter’

In Turkey, the respondent and her family were put in a ‘camp-like prison’. They were offered food, but apart from that, those at the prison were very rough with them. The first camp they were taken to was in Izmir, near the ocean. They stayed there for two days before being transferred to Urfa. They were transferred to Urfa by bus. They were forced to stay in the Urfa prison for two months. The respondents husband became sick psychologically and spent the whole time in bed. Their four children were also kept in the Urfa prison with them. The respondent describes an incident with a policewoman where she was hit, pushed into her cell and had the door slammed whilst the policewoman shouted at her ‘why did you come here?! Go Home’. They were kept inside the cell for 2 days with the door closed.

Eventually the Red Cross came to visit the prison and with the help of a Syrian interpreter, they were freed. The family then tried two more times to cross. On the third attempt, they were intercepted once more but this time they were sent directly to Zakho in Iraq. Four buses full of people were caught and sent back to Zakho.

The respondent stated that her husband is suffering a lot psychologically. He has psychosis. He takes medicine every day. His time in prison and the treatment by the police has affected his mental health greatly. When he is very emotional, he takes special pills. He developed this sickness and emotional problems in Urfa. 

‘I swear to you, we were two steps away from Greece.’