Ali, Pakistan

“I lost my family in the crowd. I still don’t know anything about them.”

My life was good before I came here. I was working for a mining company from the government and earned a lot of money. My mother, brother, wife and two kids live in Pakistan. I spend most of my life in golf countries like Saudi Arabia, the Arab Emirates and also Turkey to work.
I had a lot of money so I got a letter from Taliban to send them money. I ignored the letter and hired two security guards for my family. As a consequence we got threatend. We left to the border to Iran.
I lost my family in the crowd, I still don’t know anything about them. Kids and families where seperated, the men on one side. We had to run, wie didn’t see anything. I shouted but I couldn’t find them.

I stayed in Turkey for some time. Then my friend convinced me to go to Greece with him.
I gave all my money to my wife. I would go back to Iran if someone finds my family.
Here I feel good – at least I am alive, thats why I came here – to save my life. But I worry about my family all the time. I lost them at the border. I really don’t know what to do. I spent all the money that I had on me to call Pakistan to reach my friends. Somebody told me my brother reached Greece, but the cellphone of this person is switched off now.

Many people here in Friedland have money. We eat lunch here but supper is not really good. The people who have money can cook. But really I don’t think about those things, I have other worries.
We are not here for money. We have very big problems. Otherwise we would have never left Pakistan.We as Asians have really strong family bounds, we cannot leave our family easily. Only if we have big issues…