Solidarity Beyond Borders- Dunya's family
Donation protected
Dunya is an Iraqi single mother who made a long, difficult refuge-seeking journey- across land and sea- to Greece two years ago following the violent death of her husband in Iraq. With her two young children (one of whom, Hassan, is on the left hand side of the above photo- used with permission- with his two best, brilliant young friends from Iran and Somalia) and her mother, Dunya slowly, painstakingly, built a humble life for her family in Lesvos as she navigated the asylum system there.
She made friends, got involved in local refugee support structures, her two children were enrolled in a volunteer-run school, taught themselves Greek and English, and how to fish, play the guitar and up their football skills with their friends. The family's life was still very precarious, and paused in limbo, but the children began to more deeply process their grief and hold space for hope and imagination again, too.
Three months ago they were told, with a week's notice, by local authorities that they would have to vacate the small apartment that they were housed in, and their monthly, meagre UNHCR allowance was about to end, as they now have Greek residency status. They were then transferred to the North of Greece, an hour away from Thessaloniki, to an isobox container shared with two other families, in a bleak, cold camp which does not have a school or clinic.
Dunya tried, with characteristic strength, to hold everything together as her children grieved the loss of their friends and tentatively rebuilt, humble life in Lesvos. Her small family has now been told that, as they now have Greek residency status, that they have to leave the camp, with no supports or advice offered as to her next steps.
She has no savings left, no work, nowhere to go, no contacts or support networks in the North. Her elderly mother has health issues and her 13 year old daughter, Chams, has active trauma symptomology, which she carries with a poignant level of endurance as she tries to reassure her grandmother that she is okay. Her family has fallen through the cracks of an already broken system, or a system, in many ways, designed to fail.
Dunya has survived an often overwhelming amount of loss already in her life. We're hoping, in the months that it takes to network and connect her family into longer-term, official supports or benefits, that solidarity or community groups, groups of individuals or church or faith-based groups could commit to sending her family enough, monthly, to cover the rent of a small, humble flat, bills and funds for food supplies (perhaps 650 euros in total, for now, per month).
Solidarity funds can either be donated on a once-off basis or smaller monthly amounts lodged here into the GoFundMe. The funds raised, as Dunya doesn't have a bank account, will be transferred at the end of each month via Western Union- the transfer receipts of which will be posted here or sent via PMs to those of you who donate. Alternatively, Dunya's details can be sent to community organisations if you would like to make Western Union transfers to her family directly.
Humble donations, collectively, will allow for Dunya in the coming months, to receive not only limited financial support/practical solidarity, but also to feel that there are communities and individuals in other countries who acknowledge the hardships and profound disempowerment of seeking refuge and navigating asylum systems, while validating her courage and tenacity too, in keeping her small family safe, and together.
Case by case work does not translate into systemic policy change or mitigate the deep injustices that so many refugees, asylum seeking and undocumented communities are facing on a deeper level. But, in the immediacy of the coming months, Dunya- and so many others- needs funds to keep going while she figures out the next steps of her family's journey.
Thank you all x
(photo of Hassan and his two guitar-playing, football-devotee, great young friends, from Iran and Somalia- used with their, and their parents' permission)
She made friends, got involved in local refugee support structures, her two children were enrolled in a volunteer-run school, taught themselves Greek and English, and how to fish, play the guitar and up their football skills with their friends. The family's life was still very precarious, and paused in limbo, but the children began to more deeply process their grief and hold space for hope and imagination again, too.
Three months ago they were told, with a week's notice, by local authorities that they would have to vacate the small apartment that they were housed in, and their monthly, meagre UNHCR allowance was about to end, as they now have Greek residency status. They were then transferred to the North of Greece, an hour away from Thessaloniki, to an isobox container shared with two other families, in a bleak, cold camp which does not have a school or clinic.
Dunya tried, with characteristic strength, to hold everything together as her children grieved the loss of their friends and tentatively rebuilt, humble life in Lesvos. Her small family has now been told that, as they now have Greek residency status, that they have to leave the camp, with no supports or advice offered as to her next steps.
She has no savings left, no work, nowhere to go, no contacts or support networks in the North. Her elderly mother has health issues and her 13 year old daughter, Chams, has active trauma symptomology, which she carries with a poignant level of endurance as she tries to reassure her grandmother that she is okay. Her family has fallen through the cracks of an already broken system, or a system, in many ways, designed to fail.
Dunya has survived an often overwhelming amount of loss already in her life. We're hoping, in the months that it takes to network and connect her family into longer-term, official supports or benefits, that solidarity or community groups, groups of individuals or church or faith-based groups could commit to sending her family enough, monthly, to cover the rent of a small, humble flat, bills and funds for food supplies (perhaps 650 euros in total, for now, per month).
Solidarity funds can either be donated on a once-off basis or smaller monthly amounts lodged here into the GoFundMe. The funds raised, as Dunya doesn't have a bank account, will be transferred at the end of each month via Western Union- the transfer receipts of which will be posted here or sent via PMs to those of you who donate. Alternatively, Dunya's details can be sent to community organisations if you would like to make Western Union transfers to her family directly.
Humble donations, collectively, will allow for Dunya in the coming months, to receive not only limited financial support/practical solidarity, but also to feel that there are communities and individuals in other countries who acknowledge the hardships and profound disempowerment of seeking refuge and navigating asylum systems, while validating her courage and tenacity too, in keeping her small family safe, and together.
Case by case work does not translate into systemic policy change or mitigate the deep injustices that so many refugees, asylum seeking and undocumented communities are facing on a deeper level. But, in the immediacy of the coming months, Dunya- and so many others- needs funds to keep going while she figures out the next steps of her family's journey.
Thank you all x
(photo of Hassan and his two guitar-playing, football-devotee, great young friends, from Iran and Somalia- used with their, and their parents' permission)
Organizer
Caoimhe Butterly
Organizer