Albanian policeman helps Syrian refugee survive, story goes viral

The touching story of a Syrian young adult named Muhammad which explains the tough and dehumanizing conditions and situations he had to go through during his refugee trip from Syria to Europe has gone viral after being published by Humans of New York blog in Facebook. The main part of the story tells how the Syrian youngster struggled to flee from war in Syria for a better future for him and his family.

“The fighting got very bad. When I left Syria to come in Damascus, I only had $50. Before leaving for Europe, I went back to Syria to see my family once more. I slept in my uncle’s barn the entire time I was there, because every day the police were knocking on my father’s door. Eventually my father told me: ‘If you stay any longer, they will find you and they will kill you.”

A piece of tragedy of many refugees, all of them trying to reach the Greek shore in a plastic boat, in the open sea at night.

“It was completely black. We could see no land, no lights, only ocean. Then after thirty minutes the motor stopped. I knew we all would die. I was so scared that my thoughts completely stopped. The women started crying because none of them could swim. I lied and told them that I could swim with three people on my back. It started to rain. The boat began to turn in circles. Everyone was so frightened that nobody could speak.”

After arriving in Greece, the Greek policemen did not treat well the Syrian refugees but an Albanian policeman would become their savior:

“Two police jeeps came speeding toward us and slammed on the brakes. They acted like we were murderers and they’d been searching for us. They pointed guns at us and screamed: ‘Hands up!’ I told them: ‘Please, we just escaped the war, we are not criminals!’ They said: ‘Shut up, Malaka!’

….We were saved when they finally they put us on a boat and sent us to a camp on the mainland. We walked for three weeks. I ate nothing but leaves. Like an animal. We drank from dirty rivers. My legs grew so swollen that I had to take off my shoes. When we reached the border, an Albanian policeman found us and asked if we were refugees. When we told him ‘yes,’ he said that he would help us. He told us to hide in the woods until nightfall. I did not trust this man, but I was too tired to run. When night came, he loaded us all into his car. Then he drove us to his house and let us stay there for one week. He bought us new clothes. He fed us every night. He told me: ‘Do not be ashamed. I have also lived through a war. You are now my family and this is your house too.’”

Now, Muhammad is an Austrian citizen – read the ending of the story here.