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Photo story – Haumand

Haumand is 21 years old, raised in Kirkuk in the North of Iraq. When he was 17 years old, he fled to Germany on his own. He lives in Essen for four years by now.

The Iraqi suffer from a catastrophic supply and security situation. 1.8 million refugees have been registered since 2003. For Haumand and his family the situation also got worse. They had been in a good financial position, but even this kind of advantage beholds risks for one’s own safety: Burglary was committed several times at the family’s home, furthermore the family lived under enormous threats. None of the children were able to go to school regularly.

At this juncture the parents decided to send Haumand, the youngest of their children, off to Europe. They arranged contacts to human traffickers and Haumand left to in adventurous flight. He was 17 years old by then. Three months on the way, crowded with alien people on a loading area, anxious and unknowingly when, where and if he would ever arrive. He lives in Essen for four years now. He used to live in a camp at the beginning, now in his own small flat.

Haumand learned German very well and graduated from school with a good certificate, but is only granted an exceptional leave to remain in Germany. One of his teachers arranged the contact to ProAsyl/Flüchtlingsrat Essen e.V., where the team applied for a hardship case immediately. The hardship case was successful and now Haumand took an apprenticeship. Haumand did very well at his first year in the new job and looks optimistically towards the future.

Download photo story [ german, PDF ]

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