Migrant crisis: 'I want to go to Germany'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-34154405

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"If I don't get out of this place, I don't know what I will do."

How does a Libyan graduate end up in a situation where he's willing to risk his life with people traffickers to get to Germany? One 24-year-old explains how he has reached the point where his goal is to save up enough money so he can pay smugglers to help him.

Khaled, not his real name, thought that when he left Libya in 2009 for a scholarship to an international university in Dubai, his life would follow a set path. For five years he studied hard and enjoyed himself and, even as unrest broke out in Libya, he thought he'd be able to forge a new life.

It was easy for a Libyan to travel to Dubai then and he thought his family back home would be fine as there was no sign of the troubles which were to break out with the emergence of the Arab Spring just two years later.

"I was working in the morning, studying in the evening which was challenging but I told myself it would be worth it in order to secure my future. I even got a small dog so I wouldn't feel lonely or overwhelmed."

Khaled couldn't fathom why his residency would not be renewed. "I'd lived in Dubai for five years with no problem, I'd never got in trouble with the law or had any issues. It didn't make sense. I couldn't return to Libya. The situation was impossible. My own parents had been forced to leave our family home by the militia."

Khaled was advised by his employer to leave temporarily before his residence ended and that he would try to sort out the situation.

"I went to Turkey as at that point we didn't need a visa to go there. It was the option that made more sense.

"My boss told me to give him couple of weeks to sort it out. One week became two, two became three and so on, I was running very low on money and couldn't afford to stay in the country for much longer. I slept on the streets for a couple of weeks. My phone ran out of battery and I had to start using internet cafes to try to keep in touch with people and try to figure out what was going on. I even had to give away my dog who was back in Dubai. I loved her more than anything in the world but it didn't look like I could go back."

He said he was asking everyone he knew for help when an Egyptian friend offered to pay for a flight ticket and entry visa to Egypt if Khaled paid back the favour by doing some translation work for him.

"I'm fluent in English and Arabic so I thought this would help me. It was fine until I was required by law to get residency so that I could work legally. I applied for it in July last year and usually it takes two weeks but since the country is full of refugees escaping war, it's taking a lot longer. It took four months before I was rejected due to the high demand of applications."

He was then subject to even more bad news when his friend said now Khaled owed him money and he would have to work as his driver and cleaner. His treatment of Khaled got worse and the friendship suffered.

"After about six months, I worked off the debt but then I no longer had anywhere to stay. I worked in cafes as a cleaner, shisha boy, trying to find any job that I could. As I have no residence, I get paid just a third of the normal going rate."

Khaled kept hoping that things had the potential to change. He started looking for job opportunities around the world.

"I applied to a number of companies in Canada, USA, UK, and so many more. Companies liked my CV and would accept me, and even sent a full sponsorship letter for me to get a visa in a few cases.

"But then I'd get a letter rejecting me, stating, "You have no proof that you will leave the country once your authorised work period is finished," or, "We require residence in the country you are applying from," as well as other reasons. The Egyptian government won't give me residency. I can't go back to Libya. I'm stuck in a rut.

"I'm trying everything within my power to improve my situation but it feels like everything I worked for, all my degrees, do not mean anything due to something which is outside my control.

"My dream is to have a home, a safe place to come back to, a place to work which most people have. They do not know how lucky they are. I even want to continue my studies. I would like to do my PhD, not clean the toilets and get beaten up on my way home just because I am Libyan.

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"I'm now trying to save as much money as I can so I can go to Turkey and get on one of the boats which take people over to Europe. It's easy enough to do because when you are walking in Turkey, the traffickers see you are an Arab and offer you the chance.

"I would rather drown than spend the rest of my life here in Egypt. I want to go to Germany because they welcome people like me.

"I've never looked for handouts but opportunities. I want to give back to the community."

Migrants or refugees?

The word migrant is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "one who moves, either temporarily or permanently, from one place, area, or country of residence to another".

A refugee is, according to the 1951 Refugee Convention, any person who "owing to a well-founded fear" of persecution is outside their country of nationality and "unable" or "unwilling" to seek the protection of that country. To gain the status, one has to go through the legal process of claiming asylum.

The word migrant has traditionally been considered a neutral term, but some criticise the BBC and other media for using a word they say implies something voluntary, and should not be applied to people fleeing danger.

Battle over words to describe migrants