children are terrified when they hear planes flying over their house. “It’s not easy for me see them like this. What future will they have here? They need professional help, and here there is no help,” Adnan father says. Adnan and his brother-in-law tried to leave Egypt a second time and managed to board the boats. However rough seas broke the boats, and when it seemed like there was no hope for them, the Greek coast guard forces rescued them. They were again detained, this time in Greek prisons, and might face deportation back to Egypt.
The police, under orders from the security establishments, kept them and other Syrians detained for three months in arbitrary conditions. They say they were mistreated and threatened to accept their deportation to Syria. Those who accepted were allowed to speak to their families or to NGOs to collect the money needed for their flights back to Syria. The police accompanied them to the airport. 60
Adnan says that “deportees from Egyptian prisons were detained again once they reached Syria”. The conditions in the jail were quite bad. Cells were 8 x 1.6 meters or smaller and accommodated more than 40 people at a time, including children, in a space meant for no more than 15. Adnan says they were treated worse than animals. After they were released from prison, the Egyptian authorities gave them new non-renewable visas valid for 30 days only.
“Our children have seen, in Syria, what no human being in the world can handle,” says Adnan. “Some of them scream at night from nightmares. Some of them are losing hair.” After experiencing air raids in Syria, the
Part of Adnan´s family watching telvision in their home in Cairo, Egypt. Six of October.
Adnan is living in Egypt in an 80-square-meter apartment with 21 other family members. he is also the main bread winner among them. Adnan and his family first planned to move to Egypt and then to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, but they were stopped by the police before they could board into a smuggling boat going to Italy. After they were arrested, Adnan and his family appeared in front of the prosecutor but were released because of a lack of evidence of illegal immigration.