Child Refugees Stuck in Limbo

12-year-old Bahadar and 13-year-old Omar are Afghani cousins who made the journey from Pakistan to Europe together with three other boys. The cousins are stuck in Krnjaca centre for asylum in Serbia, waiting for their turn to continue on, travelling first to Hungary, before reaching  Austria, where they hope make a new home for themselves.

‘The other boys are already in Austria,’ says Omar, hanging at the ICT corner in the centre, provided by SOS Children’s Villages Serbia.  The centre provides a safe haven for children and families in transit, and  provides a place where children can entertain themselves and temporarily escape the harsh realities of their journey, surfing on Facebook and talking to friends and relatives on Skype.

The cousins left their homes and families in Pakistan, and journeyed through Iran, Turkey and Bulgaria, before arriving in Serbia. ‘Taliban,’ is Bahadar’s answer to why he left his home. Omar adds: ‘We couldn’t go to school.’

‘Of course, we were afraid,’ Omar says. ‘We were walking in the forest for three days, we had nothing to eat or drink and there were animals. I was all the time looking after my cousin, making sure that he would be ok. I was afraid myself.’

Temporary solace – ICT corner offers connection to family

The two cousins have found the Krnjaca centre for asylum, and spend most of their days at the ICT corner. Slavko Bosnjak, the co-worker of SOS Children’s Villages Serbia, says that there are a lot of children in the centre. ‘There are many families and also unaccompanied minors, most of them are 14-15-year-olds,’ he says.

Slavko helps children to set-up mail accounts and open Facebook accounts. ‘Many children don’t know letters, so I help them,’ he says. ‘Some don’t know what an e-mail is, so we organise basic IT workshops here.’

‘Most of them don’t have mobile phones, so the computers are their only option to keep in touch with families. These are the two main things they do: watching videos on Facebook and speak to their families on Skype or on Facebook.’

Positive hopes for the future

Slavko has become friends with many of the children over the course of his time working at the centre, and  he has heard a great deal of stories. ‘I hear a lot of stories, most of them are quite sad, but what is most amazing for me is how they keep their spirit up.’

Bahadar and Omar,  also look more into future than to the past. ‘I want to have a good life,’ says 12-year-old Bahadar, ‘I want to study and to make money.’ His  elder cousin Omar agrees: I also want to study and just to live.’