"I have nowhere to go back." Stories of refugees from other countries
”appeared after the First World War of 1914-18. to designate persons who left during the war endangered occupations or territories occupied by the enemy, or were expelled from these territories by order of military or civil authorities.
The concept of "refugee" has undergone some changes several times.
Initially, a group approach was used, according to which a refugee was considered a person who was outside his country of origin and did not benefit from the protection of that State.
In 1926 refugees were recognized as persons of the respective national or ethnic background who do not enjoy the protection of their government and have not received another citizenship (Final Act of the Conference on the Problems of Russian and Armenian Refugees in Geneva).
The most general and universally applicable definition of the term "refugee" is contained in the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, as amended by a 1967 protocol. According to it, "a refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality and is unable to enjoy the protection of that country or is unwilling to enjoy such protection owing to such fear; or, having no particular nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable and unwilling to return to it owing to such fear.”
Main legal documents on the status of refugees are the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol.
Both documents are universal, they have now been ratified by 145 states (including Russia in 1993) and incorporated into national law.
There are also regional conventions on refugees that significantly expand this concept: the 1969 Convention on Refugees in Africa, the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees in Latin America, as well as a number of conventions of the Council of Europe.
Number of refugees
There are 9.2 million refugees in the world today. But total number There are many more people under the protection of the UN Refugee Agency - refugees, internally displaced persons, asylum seekers, returnees. According to the United Nations (as of June 2006), there are a total of about 20 million refugees, displaced persons and stateless persons in 117 countries around the world. Many of them have been living in internal refugee camps for years.
From the history.
Refugees as a phenomenon have been known since time immemorial. The first refugees, as the story goes, appeared in 695 BC, when the Assyrian army of King Sennacherib I entered the lands of Judea. Then about 50,000 Jews hurriedly left their homes, rushing to Egypt, where they were also not expected.
In 375 (already AD), about 300,000 people fled from the invasion of the nomadic Huns to the lands of Rome.
In the 8th-9th centuries, as a result of the devastating Viking invasions of Britain, about 40,000 islanders moved to France, founded temporary settlements, and remained there, mingling with the local population.
A huge number of refugees appeared after the First crusade(1096-1099), when 500,000 Arabs and Turks fled from the places captured by the knights.
In 1492, all Jews who had not converted to Christianity were expelled from Spain, of whom more than 200,000 took refuge in North Africa and other lands.
In the first half of the XIII century, when the Mongol hordes passed from Pacific Ocean before mediterranean sea, many hundreds of thousands of Chinese, Arabs, Russians, Persians, Poles, Hungarians fled to neighboring countries to escape the invasion there.
Refugees came not only from wars. During frequent plague epidemics, the population of cities and entire regions in Europe and Asia left for different countries to ride out the worst of times.
Some rulers used the refugees for their own purposes. So, due to the fact that in 1715 the King of Prussia Frederick II declared free entry and residence for "refugees of any religion", the population of the kingdom increased significantly. Many Russian Molokans, Baptists, Old Believers, who, for the right to live in ottoman empire had to take part in its wars.
The practice of hiding behind church walls existed in biblical times when Roman law allowed churches to shelter even criminals within their walls.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, the right of asylum in churches was almost universally recognized. However, it only applied to criminals.
The practice of sheltering in temples began in 1983 in Canada, when a Montreal church hosted a refugee from Guatemala who was about to be deported. Since then, hundreds of people have found shelter in churches challenging the deportation order. Some were able to prove their right to stay in Canada, while others were still expelled.
Under Canadian law, such a church shelter does not legally protect the people hiding there in any way. There are no laws protecting the custom of churches to hide citizens who are in danger of being expelled from the country. Canadian police only once showed up at the church - in Quebec in March 2004 - and arrested an Algerian hiding there. They handcuffed him right there. There was a big scandal. Since then, the immigration authorities and the police have refrained from such visits.
In France, there is a law that allows the police to come to a church and arrest a person who has taken refuge there. In Britain and America, the police also do not hesitate to arrest people in temples.
Practically no one dealt with refugees until the beginning of the twentieth century, when the process of developing a system of international laws, conventions and rules began to protect refugees, who had the worst of it in the First and Second World Wars, when it suddenly became clear that when a dozen neighboring countries, then there seems to be nowhere to run.
Here at this time in international law the concept of "refugees" appears. In 1922, after the First World War, the League of Nations adopts the first agreement (supplemented by the agreements of 1924, 1926 and 1928) on the status of Russian and Armenian refugees. For the first time, the rights of refugees were defined, they received travel documents of a special type (Nansen passport, named after the polar explorer and the first High Commissioner of the League of Nations for Refugees Fritjorf Nansen).
Subsequently, the agreements were extended to cover all refugees from Turkey and Nazi Germany and culminated in the approval on July 28, 1951 by a special UN conference of the "Convention relating to the Status of Refugees", which is a key legal document which defines the concept of "refugees" and their rights, as well as the legal obligations of States in relation to refugees.
The problem of refugees in the 20th century became especially acute more than once: for example, as a result of the seizure of power by the Nazis in Germany and a number of other countries; US wars of aggression in Korea and Indochina, Israeli aggression against Arab countries and Palestine, the policies of dictatorial and racist regimes in southern Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world.
After the Second World War, within the framework of the United Nations, states began to cooperate to create an international legal system for the protection of refugees. The international community created the United Nations Relief and Recovery Administration (UNRRA) and the International Refugee Organization (IRF). UNRRA assisted in the voluntary repatriation of more than 7 million people, and the IPS assisted in the placement of 1.7 million European refugees who did not want to return to their homeland.
January 1, 1951 as an institute international protection To address the issue of refugees and displaced persons, the United Nations General Assembly established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, replacing UNRRA and the MPS.
For the first time, UNHCR had to work in an emergency humanitarian crisis during a war in Persian Gulf after the exodus of 1.9 million Kurds.
The turning point in his work was the former Yugoslavia: for the first time, the staff took an active part in the organization of such large-scale actions as air bridges and humanitarian convoys.
In 1994, a humanitarian disaster occurred in Rwanda, when about a million people fled to neighboring Zaire in four days.
In early 1995, UNHCR was providing humanitarian assistance to displaced persons in Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Georgia and Tajikistan.
In 1999, UNHCR played an active role in providing humanitarian assistance to thousands of refugees affected by the Kosovo conflict.
Today UNHCR is one of the main humanitarian organizations in the world, providing assistance to 19.2 million people in 116 countries.
The number of its employees is more than 6,500 people. During its half century of activity, UNHCR has provided assistance to at least 50 million people, for which it has twice been awarded Nobel Prize world - in 1954 and 1981.
In October 1992, UNHCR and Russia signed an Agreement to open a representative office in Moscow. Currently there are branches of the representative office in a number of regions of Russia. Since May 1995 Russia has been a member of the UNHCR Executive Committee.
On December 4, 2000, the 55th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that, starting from 2001, June 20 will be celebrated annually as World Refugee Day.
I am publishing the story of a refugee from Ukraine about how he fled from Ukraine and how he received refugee status in Russia.
The history is very interesting. This story is written from the words of a refugee and not a single word is thrown out. All facts, figures and events are reliable.
In Mariupol, I helped the separatists from the very beginning, long before the referendum. He helped as much as he could: water, food, warm clothes ... In return, he received information. I just listened to a lot of stories, thoughts, notes from the then conditional fronts. I listened carefully and wrote posts in the notorious social network. A little later, when it got a little hotter, I made a public page “Mariupol_Anti-Maidan” (the name has been changed - editor's note) and wrote articles already there. I'm lucky to know a lot of guys who are no longer alive...
I went to Donetsk to defend the Regional State Administration. There were many of us then. They stood with their bare hands and pushed back the enemies with their chests. Nobody was afraid. Then someone brought barrels, lit fires ... it was very cold. I remember laughing, saying that at least the Maidan taught us something, someone said, making holes in the barrels for air intake. Then they met Pushilin, and they saw Akhmetov live ... now I remember the movie like a movie.
I don’t even remember who exactly, but someone offered to help organize a referendum in the southeast. I have lived in Mariupol all my life, and I absolutely understood and felt the mood of people, and I knew how the majority of them would vote. I agreed to participate in organizing the referendum without hesitation. It is also worth noting that the mood and degree of hatred of people for the authorities in Kyiv has grown a lot after May 9th.
It was hell. And let them not talk about 9 dead ... take my word for it - 92 packages are just what I personally saw. But you yourself know and understand everything ...
In general, the referendum, no matter what was amazing. I have never seen so many people on the streets in Mariupol, not at any holiday, not at any concert. And they were all smiling! They believed that this was the beginning of something new and bright. No one thought that it would turn out the way it did ... But if you ask each of them now - do they regret their vote then, on May 11th, I assure you - they do not regret! However, this is not the point.
After the referendum, I went to work (on a voluntary basis) at the press center of the power bloc of the DPR in the city of Mariupol. And this is where my interesting streak began. I won't bore you with long detailed stories about this, I will say in fact: 80% of my colleagues in the workshop were either arrested by non-local law enforcement officials and transported to a pre-trial detention center outside the DPR and LPR, or went missing, or were killed.
It is strange to leaf through the phone book and understand that those with whom you discussed football over a plastic cup of coffee, leaning on sandbags near the entrance to the city council, where the flag of the republic is flying - they are all gone . Again, lyrics. I'm sorry, but it's impossible not to remember this...
How I escaped from Ukraine
In short, they began to catch us (after the occupation of Mariupol by military forces controlled by Kyiv - ed.). Caught and screwed hard. Like in the movies. They waited under the entrance, broke the doors, went to their parents, girls, families ... in general, as expected. My superiors advised to molt. And I took off. To Kharkov to comrades. Urgently. Just what is there to do? It took me a week to get away from the events a bit and decide to go to Russia. There was nothing to catch here. The choice fell on the Crimea. Just intuitive.
It is curious that for 23 years of Ukraine, or how many of its “independence” there are, I have never been there. But now I went, knowingly agreeing with a friend who rented an apartment there, by the way, he is also a refugee. There was no money at all. But there was nothing to lose. I put a gold pendant with a zodiac sign in a pawnshop and received 500 hryvnias. It was my entire budget. I went to the station and bought a ticket for the next train, which turned out to be a Russian Railways train with the message Moscow-Sevastopol. I remember I was very surprised by the price - 79 hryvnia. From Mariupol to Kharkiv, a ticket cost me 98 hryvnias, for comparison. (Kharkiv-Mariupol = 400 km. Kharkov - Sevastopol = 730 km.)
I got on the train strange mood. It was more like I didn't have it at all. The brain refused to believe what had happened and did not perceive reality properly. I just survived, and at the level of instincts and reflexes. Moved to where I belonged. Yes, you can say that after the events in Ukraine, I began to feel like a stranger there. Well, "Suitcase, Station, Russia"! OK.
It was very hot on the train. But I didn't care. Met fellow travelers. Three neighbors in places turned out to have relatives or friends from Luhansk and Slavyansk. They told me their stories, which are at least worthy of a book or film adaptation. Lots of scary stuff...
The first serious trouble was the city of Zaporozhye. A traffic police squad checked the documents of the passengers. It would seem nothing unusual ... and really nothing, if you do not have a residence permit from Donbass . I had. And another kid, one section from me.
The tone of our conversation changed dramatically. There already without the wishes of health, and without "simple cultures" human communication. We were spoken to like cattle. They were treated like cattle. Like criminals. Nobody was interested in our political views or the purpose of the trip. We were told that our registration gives grounds to believe that we are separatists and terrorists, and we will be dropped off the train and sent somewhere. All our questions were ignored, logical and obvious arguments did not work. We are terrorists and we will explain everything to the SBU and in general we will be imprisoned for life because we have a residence permit from the Donbass. I tried to object something, by virtue of my character, and probably stupidity ... and got hit in the ribs. Then again. At the same time, the second employee was inspecting my things with particular predilection. Luckily, the only thing I had was a backpack. He just took out his clothes, turned out his pockets and threw them on the floor.
The third employee was inspecting the kid, a little further along the car. They had their own similar dialogue. But then, frankly, I only cared about myself. In short, they took my money, leaving me 300 rubles. (Even in Kharkov at the station, I changed the remaining hryvnia for rubles). Having received a portion of cursing and having endured another push in the chest from the employee, I heard “say thanks again ... Bon Voyage". The mood, for obvious reasons, worsened. To be honest, I was very afraid of customs, with such layouts, and in general, my future seemed somehow vague to me in the Crimea with three hundred rubles ... But there was no turning back.
To my surprise, customs passed without any problems at all. Ukrainian in two, and Russian in three minutes. No questions, inspections, and other garbage. They compared the face in the passport, gave me to fill out a declaration, put a stamp - and that's it. We crossed the border and it became easier to breathe. This is real, in the truest sense of the word. And the air has nothing to do with it. There was no fear. I was no longer afraid of police squads, and other "chauffeurs", I was not afraid of any inspections of the "National Guard", and other riffraff. It became calm. By that time, my fellow travelers had changed, and I met refugees from Snezhnoye... their fate is hard... hundreds of times worse than mine.
We were impatient to enter the Russian land with full breasts, as they say ... in general, in theory, we could only get off the train in Simferopol, because there is customs in Dzhankoy, and they don’t let us off the train. But, for conversations and tea from cup holders, we drove to Inkerman, and ... that's it. We were told that we would be standing until at least 5 in the morning, as the station was mined. Most of the passengers decided that there was no need to wait and decided to take a taxi. One of them (I know my story) willingly agreed to give me a ride for free.
How to become a refugee in Russia when fleeing Ukraine
I was taken to the station, and the first thing I turned to the policeman with a bunch of questions like: "What, where, why, how, where." To my great surprise, the policeman willingly, better than any information bureau, told me everything point by point and explained what was needed. I did not believe that the name change would somehow form the faces of the former police, but damn it is a fact. The police are very polite, smiling, and in uniform. I thought they took pride in their work. All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised. I don’t know how the authorities of the Russian Federation managed to do this, but those policemen that I met in Crimea cannot be compared with Ukrainian “garbage”. A very pleasant surprise.
In the meantime, I went right at the station to a special room where refugees were supposed to go. They explained everything very clearly and clearly and offered several options.
Option one: an all-inclusive refugee, as I call it. You draw up paperwork, and you are settled in one of the tent cities on the seashore. (All boarding houses and camps with recreation centers are packed with refugees of the first wave).
I will say in advance that it is good there, despite the fact that it is heard and presented differently. All for normal life There is. And laundry, and hot water, and food, and even some kind of entertainment. In general, everything is more than. And then distribution. You can be sent all the way to Magadan, but you can be sure that you will be given normal housing, work by profession (indicated in the questionnaire), medical insurance, and children - a kindergarten school. All social payments and the so-called "lifting" - also take it, as it were. But I didn’t want to go to Magadan (yes, I am like that), and I listened to option number two - “Temporary Shelter”: I called him “half-refugee”.
You can stay 180 days on the territory of the Russian Federation, with a license to work, but without any social benefits. You need to bring someone else with whom you will live. I was assured that if things don’t get better in Ukraine in half a year, then this period will be extended for me. Moreover, if at the end of the conflict I want to stay, I will be offered an accelerated option for obtaining citizenship. However, they themselves honestly admit that they do not know what will happen next. They say that until the first of January so. And then it will be seen. Every week the Russian government holds meetings and makes amendments on all these issues. In any case, they will not leave you in trouble.
There is a third option - the coolest. If there are close relatives in Russia. In this case, you need to take them, drag them to the FMS at the place of residence of relatives, they write a bunch of papers, petitions and statements, as well as you, and then immediately under the simplified citizenship program.
It is worth noting that any of the three options begins with this room at the station. And the whole procedure is the same at the beginning. They take away your blue passport, and in return they give you a certificate (photo attached) stating that you are a refugee.
Then you are asked to undergo a medical examination. The commission is more formal: don't look at pussies. They ask if you need health care now (maybe you were wounded in a war zone), they ask about vaccinations and about any complaints. no complaints - free.
Then you take the queue for the “rollback of fingers”. This is the longest process. I have been waiting in line for 4 days. But all is well. On call came, skated and left. From now on, you are a refugee.
It is worth knowing that your passport is taken away, and you are not allowed to enter Ukraine. You can pick it up at any time, but refugee status can only be obtained once in a lifetime ... so think .
Here's another thing - remember I said that you need to invite a person who places you under his roof? This is not noted anywhere, and is not recorded in any way, that is, completely anonymous, but as a bonus, a person who hosts a refugee is even given a letter. A trifle, but nice! It is also worth noting that I didn't pay a single penny anywhere!
As a result, I give a short diagram.
Had arrived. I checked in at the station and handed over my passport. I received a paper, passed the medical examination and decided on what format you are staying in; do you need housing, are you ready to go on assignment, etc. By the way, if you came from a zone of military clashes and lost everything, but you have relatives in the Russian Federation, they will be contacted and you will be taken there. This is the responsibility of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
That's something like this ... what else to say ... Salaries here are more than ours. I got a job as a real estate agent without any problems. Food and beer are cheap here. Cheaper even than in Kharkov. Housing is expensive ... it is understandable. You need to look for someone with whom to shoot - otherwise it's difficult. And so ... the sea, girls, beaches, and most importantly - they treat you very well. There is no fear and fear to speak your opinion in full voice, there is no feeling of pressure. And so it turns out that in a legally foreign country, the attitude towards me is hundreds of times better than in my “native” state. Goodbye Ukraine! I loved you. I believed in you. But you betrayed me and killed the patriot in me.
Farewell Ukraine. I do not love you anymore. Now i am home!
How I Surrendered My Sister A Refugee's Tale
Today I was clearing computer space and found a once saved file. The site itself, on which this material is published, contains very outdated information on refugees. It’s even somehow embarrassing .. because someone will read it and think that to this day it’s like that. Therefore, I will not recommend it for review, especially since the company advertises the citizenship of Ecuador (?), But the story is wonderful. It's outdated too! But, there is a sound grain and storytelling skill in it. Read with interest. The author, unfortunately, is not known. Grammar and punctuation are preserved, the source is indicated in the conclusion.
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The center for displaced persons was located outside the city and consisted of several houses with two-room apartments, in which family refugees were located, and dormitories, where single refugees lived several people in a room. Also nearby was the office of the Social Service (the holy of holies), where all domestic issues were resolved during the long wait for a decision. A spacious apartment with a kitchen and a bathroom hurt my soul, because by Dutch standards a bath is already a luxury. Appliances was also much more modern than in my apartment in The Hague. In general, I want to note that Finland is in many ways much more modern than other countries.
Behind the house big forest, in which refugees gathered blueberries, lingonberries for sale and just for themselves. I have never seen so many mushrooms and berries in my life! Walking through the forest, I had the feeling that I was in some kind of fairy tale. I saw a lot of wild animals - whose names I don't remember anymore. In addition, I ate so many blueberries and raspberries that I would hardly have wanted them before next summer (next year I want to go in June, on the day of the solstice, when there is actually no night - such a cliché for a tourist).
Very quickly we found new friends among compatriots and not only. In the Center, virtually all the republics of the once vast homeland were represented, who were waiting for one thing - permanent residence. And the longer they waited, the more they wanted to get permanent residence. Examples of those who received permanent residence (and all the rights like Finnish citizens, and after 5 years a Finnish passport) did not let anyone sleep. I remembered that the same thing happened to me. Everyone wanted to live normally, with permanent residence and in their apartment like everyone around, they wanted it like nothing else. Sometimes I couldn't sleep at night imagining my future in the Netherlands. And waited. Therefore, I understood well everyone who wanted the same in Finland. What difference does it make, what country! If the country is normal, with a normal economy and human rights, then you can live in it and this is a completely normal desire, so I strictly ordered my relatives not to listen to anyone, remember that nothing comes easy, everything needs to be done right, learn to wait. And never pay attention to refugees from other CIS countries, because everyone is perfect different legends and reasons for fleeing. All this is individual. All this is classical and there is no difference where to apply for refugee status - in Finland or Holland. I saw the same groups of refugees as in other countries (what I saw and heard was confirmed - Jews receive permanent residence, national minorities from Central Asia, sexual minorities, deserters). I could only sympathize with the families who requested asylum as Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia or Baptists from Ukraine. Nowhere, even in Romania, this category will be granted asylum, since everyone knows that now this category of people is not in mortal danger. For everyone else, with knowledge of the matter and experience, you can still concoct something worthwhile. Recently adopted law about consideration of the case within a week is related mainly to the Roma from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, who poured into Finland by the thousands. Everyone else can rest easy for now.
Approached school time and I even felt a little sad, I also wanted to go to school somewhere inside, to find out and study my new home. Although, to be honest, having studied Dutch, I no longer have the strength or desire to learn other languages.
My sister's family ended up in that part of Finland where the majority live Swedes and children will have to learn Finnish and Swedish (two official languages in the country), while adults can first choose - Swedish or Finnish. Considering that Swedish is easier and there is some similarity with German, my sister and her husband chose Swedish, while the children started with Finnish. Finnish, of course, is a very difficult language grammatically, but I really liked the sound - it sounds very funny. And in order not to learn Kazakh, they would have learned both Finnish and Swedish and Norwegian combined. Once a week they had work on the computer. The library also has free internet available to everyone. Here are the backyards of Europe! I know that in many countries refugees live in tents, and the Internet is out of the question. In the same Holland, this will not happen for a long time, and maybe never.
There was no limit to my surprise when I met Jews from Ukraine who had recently received asylum and, accordingly, an apartment and all rights local residents(except for the right to vote). Involuntarily, I began to compare with Holland. And what happened - in Finland the standard is much higher. The first thing that catches your eye, when you get an apartment, there is a free sauna, an Electrolux refrigerator with a huge freezer, parquet floors, an electric stove. All this in Holland you need to buy yourself. Further, the entrances are obscenely well-groomed, in Holland this can only be seen in private houses. There can be no comparisons with Russia - the 19th and 21st centuries. And all this is available to everyone. In addition, after receiving permanent residence, refugees participate in various programs for learning the language, profession and integration into society. Naturally - for free.
I left satisfied - Mission impossible was completed, they will no longer be able to send them out, the procedures last for a long time - they will last 3 years, and even with children they will be given status on humanitarian grounds, where they will go, that's how it was. It has already become its own separate branch of the economy and society with its own Ministry and thousands of jobs for the Finns too.
The KLM plane silently touched down on Dutch soil and I felt at home. Still, visiting is good, but home is better! In the Netherlands, it is difficult, of course, when starting the asylum procedure. Holland is the sweetest country - I did not doubt it, but still, in terms of social benefits, Scandinavia is not surpassed! How to get permanent residence - everyone has different paths, different opportunities and abilities. But Europe is one and already without borders, having one of the EU passports you can live and work wherever you want. The main thing is not to sit still, but to try and dare.
World Refugee Day, which is celebrated on June 20, is a day when the entire world community pays tribute to the strength of mind and resilience of millions of people who are forced to leave their homes. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Republic of Belarus (UNHCR), together with photographer Andrey Shchukin, invites you to see the photo exhibition "Only Us", which is taking place these days at the Museum of Modern visual arts.
For several months, photographer Andrey Shchukin traveled around different regions Belarus, met with Ukrainian citizens, listened to their stories and captured in photographs what cannot be expressed in words. The result of this long term project were photographs depicting the dramatic experiences of flight and the search for a new home. The author managed to show the subtle unifying and supporting power of his characters - the awareness of the cohesion of their families.
Natalia with children:
Natalia with children Lyubava, Mikhail, Polina. Together with his sisters and brother, they decided to move to our country forever. It is always calm in Belarus, so come here.
Valery with his son Dmitry from the city of Molodogvardeysk, Luhansk region:
They arrived in Belarus in August 2014. Valeria's mother stayed with her sisters in Ukraine. There were no shootings in their hometown, but there was no work and the children had nowhere to study. We decided to leave for the sake of the children.
Valery says: “When we were leaving, there was no such war, and now there is not, they are shooting at the outskirts. But we decided to stay away from sin. Why wait? Wait for it to start? We came here, we were generally in shock - the attitude of people is completely different. Soviet Union. IN good sense. And the attitude of people is different, we arrived, they helped us here, and the neighbors carried what they could. And the office helped - they found a job, arranged it.
Sergey Petrovich and Olga Alexandrovna from Donetsk:
Sergei Petrovich and Olga Alexandrovna want to return home.
Their daughter Victoria arrived in Belarus with the children on December 1, 2014. Almost everyone was left in Donetsk. The first week we lived with a friend, then we got a job on a collective farm, working to get a house. They live with their parents, they do not plan to return, but their parents want to return - here they will be left without a pension.
Victoria says: "We're not used to it yet. The mentality is different. You can find a lot of good things. But since we live in the countryside, local alcoholism is embarrassing".
Victoria's mom says: "Children are just settling in, here is the garden. Only the beginning, but the main thing is desire."
Anatoly from Pervomaisk, Luhansk region:
Anatoly works as a welder at a large Belarusian enterprise.
From the story of his wife Tatyana: “We are standing with the children, waiting for the bus. Warriors drive up and ask: “Why are we standing here, waiting?” “Bus,” we say. And they say: “So now they will shoot here. You can at least hide behind the house. "Can you imagine? At least behind the house. There were basements. We ran into the basements, and the basements, you know how, are so narrow. They let us into the corridors, and here we are standing - a crowd of people. herrings in a jar, and they really started shooting at the city. And we were standing there, and there were no buses, the money had been paid, we were standing, bags, children. Stuffy - summer, heat. We were standing in narrow corridors. A crowd of people. And the children asked: "And when will we leave?", "Mommy, where is the bus?, but we don't know if this bus will be."
Galina with her grandson Artyom and daughter Anna from Bryanka, Luhansk region:
Galina with her son, daughter and grandson arrived in Belarus in June 2014. Galina's husband arrived at the beginning of April 2015. They decided to stay and apply for a residence permit. Currently renting a house, want to buy an old house. In Ukraine, her daughter worked as a hairdresser, and her mother had two outlets On the market. Now they work at a poultry farm, last year, when they arrived, it was easy to get a job, now it is much more difficult.
Galina says: "Friendly, with the whole family, together somehow we can do it."
Anna from Gorlovka, Donetsk region:
Anna's family moved to Belarus in November, at first they lived with relatives in Grodno. Before that, she and her children went to the Crimea to her aunt, and her husband Oleg initially planned to stay with his own. But I had to be with my family. After Crimea they moved to Belarus.
Oleg says: “When they started bombing, we left literally within two weeks. Because it is very scary. They treated us with soul - they gave us housing and work. The most important thing is that we have a job, we have a roof over our heads. A peaceful, calm sky. I work as a builder, I build my own house, I have to live here."
“My father-in-law says: “As long as the house is intact, I won’t go anywhere.” All my life, he saved up, did, did, I also built there, I had to leave, because when they bombed and my daughter ran in tears, her arms and legs trembled, says : "Dad, how? .." Then I already say: "You need to leave, you need to leave." Churches were bombed, such moments were specially chosen when people came to the service."
Olga from Nikolaevka, Luhansk region:
Olga with her daughter Valeria in the hostel kitchen.
Eugene from Krasny Luch, Luhansk region:
Eugene works as a mechanic, repairs quarry equipment. With children, Alina and Dmitry live in a hostel.
Valentina with her son Anatoly from Druzhkovka, Donetsk region:
Arrived in hometown his mother. She left home, land, work. I made a passport for a month and a half - they said that there were no necessary forms, went to neighboring cities, tried to get it. I almost drove 300 kilometers to get it. In her passport office they said that only a temporary certificate was needed, in a neighboring city she was told that she also needed Form No. 1. After that, she could no longer stand it - she went to the boss, began to tell her that she had gone to Kharkov, 300 kilometers away, and they didn’t give her anything without a uniform. As a result, she got her passport in two days. Two days later, they left with their son. We were driving through Ukraine, I was worried about my son: although he was not liable for military service, I was afraid that they would be taken away.
Valentina says: "And you know, the worst thing is the media. When you come home from work, you see one thing in your place, and there they tell you on TV, well, something completely different."
Gold:
"Ours, you know, how many showed their houses? With a good repair. Now everything is ashes."
Julia from Donetsk:
In autumn, Yulia left for Russia with her children, she arrived in Belarus in January 2015. She came to her friends, there are no relatives here. My father and grandmother remained in Donetsk. They live off humanitarian aid.
Julia says: “If you take refugee status here in Belarus, you will never have the right to return home. This option is not very good”.
The photo exhibition runs from June 18 to July 11 at the Museum of Modern Fine Arts at the address: Minsk, Nezalezhnosti Ave., 47.
