My life in Patras / Moa Nyamwathi Lønning / 18-25 / Greece/Norway / 5:00

In the fall of 2012

I volunteered with a Greek with an NGO that assists child migrants in Patras

Through this work, I met many minors,

most of whom were Afghan.

While the majority were young boys between sixteen and eighteen years of age,

others were as young as ten.

And most were both unaccompanied and homeless.

I was deeply humbled by their courage,

their perseverance, humor, vulnerabilities,

resourcefulness and strength.

I asked them to document our situation and lives visually as they themselves perceived it.

To write about their experiences and share them.

The resulting photographs, drawings, and stories,

truly attested the difficult situations which have become their daily lives.

"My Life in Patras"
A photo and exhibition project with Afghan child migrants in Greece.

Their journeys towards Europe,

beginning in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan

present numerous challenges and difficulties.

As they have to cross the Turkish, the Greek, and then the Italian borders, undetected.

The only means available for most to gain entry to the countries of Western and Northern Europe in which they claim asylum.

"Life is so difficult.

...I cry and my tears don't finish even when I speak with someone."

"My life forced me to leave what I love but not to forget it."

"I'm telling my story and my problems to you....

...I've been suffering."

In order to cross borders unnoticed,

these minors are forced to walk across mountain ranges, hide inside containers,

where they risk suffocation, dehydration, and starvation, or inside freezer trucks

where they risk hypothermia.

They cross rivers and the sea in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats

and hide underneath lorries that may very well raise their wheels and crush them.

State officials also represent a threat to their safety

as numerous reports attested child migrants being intercepted at sea,

being shot at, or being physically abused by border, patrols,

being detained, and also being deported.

"The commanders are very brutal...

...some people are killed, some get injured."

"Many of my friends and others, sleep in the parks for months

and days and they get their food from churches."

"The coast guards shot in the air when we tried to climb the fence."

"Day and night in Patras passes by.

...I'm not afraid of the commander of the police because Allah (God) is my friend."

"They took my fingerprints,

will I have problems if I go to another country?"

While many prospective asylum seekers enter Europe through Greece,

the country, generally, only represents a stop along the route towards Western and Northern Europe.

Many migrants in an irregular situation thus gather in important Greek port cities

in which they seek ways of exiting the country.

Patras represents one such exit point

with its daily departures to Italian ports of Venice, Bari, and Ancona.

As a result, it has attracted vast numbers of migrants in irregular situations throughout the years.

And amongst these, unaccompanied children have figured prominently.

There is no reception system, nor accommodation centers in Patras.

And the minors are not encompassed by any local protection mechanism.

While the children spend their days and nights ceaselessly trying to find ways of exiting the country,

this is no easy endeavor.

These minors thus find themselves in extremely vulnerable situations for months or even years

and are routinely exposed to violence.

This video is made with photos and drawings by Afghan unaccompanied child migrants in Patras, Greece.

To find out more about 'My Life in Patras' project, please email [e-mail]

A big thank you goes out to the youth who shared their stories and made this video possible.

May your journeys be safe.