A Kurdish Refugee Finds Family in a Dutch Shipyard

Details

Interviewee: Ahmed
Role: Syrian refugee hosted in the community
Community: ADM
Date: 2026-01-14
Language: en

Summary

Ahmed, a Kurdish refugee from Syria, shares his journey from war-torn Damascus to Greece and Spain, reflecting on his experiences of refuge and community with the ADM group. After facing oppressive living conditions in Spain, he reconnected with the ADM group in Greece, which felt like returning home. Through his experiences, he gained a sense of belonging and community, learning about hope and freedom in a new environment.

Key quotes

I feel like I come back home. In Greece, the group ADM, like, I'm discovering myself new. I'm looking at a new world that I've never seen.

They care about each other. They are nice to each other. They have life, like, new kind of life.

For nine months, they took my paper. They took my money. I couldn't move. And I have suffered a lot.

Transcript

**Q:** Can you tell me your name again?
**A:** My name is Ahmed.
**Q:** So how did you get connected to this group?
**A:** So I was in a mini camp in a small town under the rain. It was winter.
**Q:** Can you give me a little bit of background, where you came from?
**A:** I'm from Syria, Kurd of Syria. I was living in Damascus, but I moved to Qamishli. I lived there for three years and a half, and I wanted to go out because of the war.
**Q:** Did you experience the war over there?
**A:** Yeah, because as a Kurdish we were especially attacked by Daesh, so we couldn't stay more there. There were many reasons that I left Syria. I took the way until Greece.
**A:** I stayed on the border in the domain. So one night I was in my tent with my sister. It was raining, mud everywhere, so I heard some music, some crazy music. I went out of my tent and I saw this crazy man with his box. I was like, I want to go there, I want to see what is this. I went there and I see new people, new faces, new characters, different things.
**A:** I saw people helping us as refugees, not caring about who we are, just like we are human, we need food. Because shorba, in English soup, they were serving shorba, so the soup was the only food they had in the camp. All the food was cold. In the winter it was the most important thing. People, even if they are not hungry, they drink it to have some heat in their body.
**A:** So I went there and I started to talk with people. This time I couldn't speak English, some little words, but talking with them, they were very welcoming. I felt good talking to them. So I started to learn English with them. I started to see their ideas about the war. And I really liked it. I just, let's do it, I want to be with them.
**A:** So I started to go, like, do you need help? Yeah, why not? So I started to help them, serving shorba. He's with the music. And people, you know, in this situation where everything is bad, but this was like a small light, you know? A small light of happiness.
**Q:** What brought you here? Like, how did you get here? To here in Holland?
**A:** Yeah. So I spent with the, we called the group of shorba, ADM. I spent with them, like, three months. And after they left, because, I don't know, because they were, are going to close the camp in Idumeni. And starting to be hard. So not, people not wanting more to shorba.
**A:** So I went to other camp. I got relocation. It's program of Europe to take refugee from Greece to north country or European country. So I relocated to Spain. I went to Spain for nine months. Not really good condition.
**A:** And in other side, we are living in a condition, like, most bad condition in all Spain. They, you know, like, many times, we say, we say, because I went there with the other friend. We entered Spain as a minors. We were first minors and companions who entered Spain. We were seven.
**A:** So in the center, we always say, we are living part of Syria. This foundation, when we enter, we entered Syria. I mean, Syria, dictatorship. We cannot talk about food. Everything is perfect, but not, no, it's not perfect. They say everything is perfect. We cannot talk.
**A:** They are stealing us. They are making us under control of everything. There were, like, no freedom. We came, we are out of Syria because freedom, because we wanted in Syria. We had protesting for freedom. And now we are, we arrived to Spain, see that. There was no freedom. I'm not talking about Spain. I'm talking especially about where we live.
**A:** Yeah. So for nine months, they took my paper. They took my money. I couldn't move. And I have suffered a lot. But me, like, I'm out now. But my friends, they're still suffering there.
**A:** I decided to try if I can stay here in Poland. But it seems to be not. So I would like to try in Germany.
**Other:** Oh, no, dude. If you go to Germany, you might as well do Holland.
**A:** Really?
**Other:** Yeah, Germany isn't good.
**A:** No.
**Other:** Especially not...
**A:** Yeah, I have this idea because I know people that they did. So I want to try. I have some luck.
**Other:** Yeah, then try Holland. At least you have a lot of family here.
**A:** Yeah.
**Q:** What do you feel when you come to a place like this?
**A:** I feel like I come back home. Really. In Greece, the group ADM, like, I'm discovering myself new. I'm looking at a new world that I've never seen.
**A:** So there, like, I felt like I'm really in a good place. I really like it. Now I come back here, like, yeah. I feel the same feeling I had.
**Q:** What do you think when you look at all the art here, the people, how they interact with each other?
**A:** Family. Yeah. They care about each other. They are nice to each other.
**A:** It's like they have life, like, new kind of life. People are... They like it. They are here because they like it. They have seen something. Everybody has seen something in his opinion about this place. But my opinion is kind of happiness.