There are stories that you will never forget as a journalist, especially the stories you did not capture.
I was standing inside of a narrow hallway in Centro Astalli, a soup kitchen for refugees located in the center of Rome. It was 2:00pm and time for the kitchen to open. Within seconds the queue of young African and Middle Eastern men outside began rushing down the stairs, immediately flooding the hallway.
Waves of conversations in a multitude of languages from Tigrinya to Arabic echoed throughout the center. I saw a familiar face in the crowd, a young Ghanaian migrant whom we interviewed the day before. We chatted for a bit until a middle-aged Afghan man interrupted us.
With a small carry-on luggage in hand, he looked out of place among the migrants that surrounded him. He was wearing a light green dress shirt, beige pants, and could have been easily mistaken for a tourist.
“You are a journalist,” he said almost in relief and certainty. He admitted to watching me from afar and overhearing the conversation I was having in English.
He began to share his story.
In search for a better life, this man had left Afghanistan four years ago to join countless Afghan asylum-seekers setting sail for Europe.
After reaching Greece he traveled to Norway to seek asylum. During that period of time he went to school and managed to find work. He became a nursing attendant, computer technician, disc jokey (DJ) and a pianist whose music made the front page of the local paper in his city. He pulled out the newspaper clippings and educational certificates from his luggage to show me.
Still, despite these achievements, his asylum application was denied. He believed it might have been due to discrimination because he is an Afghan. He was forced to leave and traveled to France and three other countries within the European Union to seek asylum. After being denied he ended up in Italy.
The hallway began to clear as the cafeteria doors opened. He began to watch the young migrants take their seats to eat. It was his second day in Italy. Three Afghan refugees approached us and began speaking to him in Farsi.
These men looked rough and worn out. Since he had no place to go, they took him in. They were camping outside of a train station. He did not sleep due to the horrible living conditions.
I was working towards documenting the realities of African asylum-seekers and migrants, but I asked him if I could share his story. There was a pause and he became more anxious when he answered.
“You are like every other journalist, you will come for my story today and disappear tomorrow to work on your next story while it is still my reality.”
He added that unless I could guarantee him the help he needed, he was not going to share. I was not in the position to make that promise.
His name was Sabr, meaning patience in Arabic. For a stateless man, patience appeared to be something he was running out of. I left the soup kitchen that day without his story and a feeling that I had never experienced before. Though I heard comments from a few asylum-seekers questioning the impact of their personal stories, the encounter I had with Sabr was unexpected for me.
I was beginning to realize that while some people in the West are desensitized to news, Sabr and a number of other refugees were desensitized to journalists. This was not a concept that I was familiar with at all.
The news of boats capsizing and rescue missions off the coast of Italy has almost become a norm.
According to the UNHCR hundreds have died trying to reach Europe this year making the journey deadlier a year after the Lampedusa tragedy.
It has also been a year since I met Sabr and the lessons that he and other asylum-seekers taught me is what I often think about, that stories do not end.
Profilo dell'autore
- Asha Siad is a Somali-Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has contributed to CBC News, Shaw TV, Frontiere News, Hiiraan Online and The Calgary Journal. She recently hosted and produced a three-part documentary series for Shaw TV Calgary that follows the lives of everyday Canadians creating new beginnings. Asha has traveled to Italy to shed light on stories of African asylum-seekers and migrants. Her passion for storytelling has allowed her to report on multiple platforms to deliver reports that dig deeper and expands the dialogue. She is interested in human security and global migration.
