The unnamed Syrian father with his children, pictured in Istanbul, Turkey. (Facebook photos by Brandon Stanton)
The issue of accepting foreign refugees yearning to breathe free involves heart-wrenching personal stories.
The headlines and newscasts are about real people with poignant sagas -- such as one involving a Syrian scientist-engineer with a doctorate who's coming from Turkey to Troy in Oakland County with his son and daughter.
Brandon Stanton, a New York City photographer, this week shares images of that Michigan-bound immigrant on Facebook with seven posts telling his story in his voice. (Excerpts are below.)
"I just want to get back to work," this father tells a New York photojournalist in Turkey. "I want to be a person again."
"I just want a place to do my research," the unnamed refugee tells Stanton in Istanbul, Turkey.
"I learned today that I’m going to Troy, Michigan. I know nothing about it. I just hope that it’s safe and that it’s a place where they respect science. I just want to get back to work. I want to be a person again."
Stanton spoke with the silver-haired father, a stomach cancer patient, as part of a reporting trip to Turkey and to Amman, Jordan, "to interview twelve Syrian families that have been cleared for resettlement in America."
These families have just reached the finish line of a multi-year screening process, and it was quite an emotional experience to meet with them at this juncture. The life of a refugee in America is by no means easy. But for these families, their resettlement has finally brought the possibility of an end to years of intense hardship.
How to help
We've heard from readers who want to help the newcomers when they reach Troy. Regrettably, we're unable to contact them.
Brandon Stanton, who did the interview in Turkey, accepts FB messages from people who aren’t connected to him at this personal page.
In our area, the Syrian American Rescue Network helps resettle families and accepts donations here via PayPal or at P.O. Box 7469, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302.
The voice of a refugee:
'Everything ended for us that day'
These first-person interview excerpts are from the unnamed Syrian refugee's conversations with Stanton, a New York photographer who has a book and Facebook page called Humans of New York:
"I’ve been in Turkey for two years now. I’m dead here. I have no life, no respect, and my children aren’t going to school."
My father was a farmer and my mother was a housewife. They did not know much about science. But I was determined to become a scientist through my own personal will.
I graduated high school with the third highest scores in all of Syria. I worked construction in the evenings to pay for my school. Even as a teenager, I was being given construction sites to manage. I graduated from university at the top of my class. I was given a scholarship to pursue my PhD.. . . My ultimate goal was to become a great scientist and make a lasting contribution to humanity.
Our marriage wasn’t arranged. We married out of love. We met when we were students at university. She was studying law. We built a family together.
'We were a very modern family'
We were a very modern family. . . . We ate every meal together and educated our children well. My daughter was studying to be a doctor. My son was the smartest in his school.
I built this compound (shown in a picture) for my family. I saved the money for it, I designed it myself, and I oversaw the construction. The first missile tore through the yellow house and exploded inside the pink house. It was a government anti-personnel missile. They are not supposed to be used in residential areas.
Inside were 116 small bombs, and each bomb was filled with needles and shrapnel. The pink house belonged to my brother and his entire family was torn to pieces. The second missile landed in the green house but did not explode. That was my house. If the missile had exploded, I wouldn’t have any children left. But it only destroyed the top floor where my wife and daughter were. Sixteen people died in the attack. Seven were from my family.
I was overseeing a project outside the city when the missile hit my house. Nobody was around to help, so my son had to carry the pieces of his mother and sister out of the house. He was fourteen at the time. He was so smart. He was the top of his class. He's not the same. Right after it happened, he’d write ‘mom’ in his notebook over and over. He’d cry all night long. Two years have passed but he’s still suffering very much. It’s very hard for him to focus. He gets tired very easily.
'Everything ended for us that day'
My daughter was in the house too. She still has shrapnel in her neck. We survived but we’re dead psychologically. Everything ended for us that day. That was our destiny. That was our share in life.
Everything that wasn’t destroyed in our house was stolen over the next two days. We left with nothing. I can’t even pay the rent of this apartment. I’ve been in Turkey for two years now. I’m dead here. I have no life, no respect, and my children aren’t going to school.
I have a PhD but I’m not allowed to work without a residence permit. There is a university here that is teaching with a book I wrote, but still won’t give me a job. In order to survive, I’m forced to create designs and give them away to Turkish citizens, who take all the credit and pay me barely enough money to cover the costs of my materials. This year I created blueprints for a giant construction project of 270 big houses. I was paid maybe one percent of what a Turkish citizen would have earned. There is no respect for my work here. Only money is respected.
I still think I have a chance to make a difference in the world. I have several inventions that I’m hoping to patent once I get to America. One of my inventions is being used right now on the Istanbul metro to generate electricity from the movement of the train. I have sketches for a plane that can fly for 48 hours without fuel. I’ve been thinking about a device that can predict earthquakes weeks before they happen. I just want a place to do my research.
I learned today that I’m going to Troy, Michigan. I know nothing about it. I just hope that it’s safe and that it’s a place where they respect science. I just want to get back to work. I want to be a person again. I don’t want the world to think I’m over. I’m still here.
