Into the Woods

Into the Woods

Imagine to find yourself in Finland, into the woods. Imagine you have crossed Europe on you bare feet and the mediterranean sea on an inflatable boat. Imagine now to have to start you life all over again, thousands of kilometres from home and that this is very much depending from the decision that an officer will take, based on the story of your life. Ihab and his uncle Yousef in the last year have been through all of this, leaving Baghdad and ending in Velkua, a little village of no more than 200 people, between the Finnish woods and the nordic sea. There they started to rebuild their life, with the hope to have a “bad enough background” to be accepted as refugees in the nordic country.

 

by contributor Alessandro Rampazzo

Imagine to find yourself in Finland, into the woods. Imagine you have crossed Europe on you bare feet and the mediterranean sea on an inflatable boat. Imagine now to have to start you life all over again, thousands of kilometres from home and that this is very much depending from the decision that an officer will take, based on the story of your life. Ihab and his uncle Yousef in the last year have been through all of this, leaving Baghdad and ending in Velkua, a little village of no more than 200 people, between the Finnish woods and the nordic sea. There they started to rebuild their life, with the hope to have a “bad enough background” to be accepted as refugees in the nordic country.

 

2016 Finland.
Birches trees in the Velkua archipelago.
In 2015 in Finland arrived more than 32000 asylum seekers mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan. For many of them the future is still uncertain and they don't know if they could stay in the country or they will be forced to leave.
Ihab and Yousef arrived in Finland in September 2015. 2016 Finland.
Ihab and Yousef call regularly their families, they spend everyday some time speaking through skype or whatsapp.
Yousef left his wife and 5 kids in Baghdad, hoping to be able to bring them to Finland if he will be accepted in the country 2016 Finland.
Ihab was suggested by some local friends to go fishing but he forgot to ask where the fish is more abundant. Waiting for the fish to bite he decided to lay down on the dock 2016 Finland.
Ihab the day of his last interview - During their first months of staying, asylum seekers face two interviews with MIGRI (the state run agency that deals with migrants) that will decide about their future. After the second interview there is a time of maximum six months in which the decision will be communicated. 2016 Finland.
Yousef preparing some food. The tastes of the Finnish food is not always appreciated by the two guys that normally cook Iraqi food 2016 Finland.
The new home of Ihab and Yousef at Outi's place . 2016 Finland. 
Ihab waiting for his interview to start at the MIGRI office 2016 Finland.
Velkua is at about 45 minutes from Turku city center (by car), on the south-west coast of Finland in a beautiful archipelago of islands. 2016 Finland.
Ihab cooking
2016 Finland.
Dauro giving a haircut to Ihab, he used to work as hairdresser in Baghdad 2016 Finland.
Ihab 27 arrived in Finland in September 2015. Like thousands of other people he crossed the Greek sea and then walked up all the Balcan route. He spent the last year and a half in Turkey, where he tried to apply for asylum without success. Ihab had to flee Baghdad in 2013 after he was life threatened at the magazine where only few months before he started to work. His family moved to India some time later, and is now applying for asylum there. - 

2016 Finland.
For few months they’ve been living in a refugee accommodation center with tens of other people mostly form Iraq and Afghanistan. 
In January 2016 Ihab found out about the home accommodation from Outi, the coordinator of this service in the area.
2016 Finland.
Velkua archipelago - Home accommodation service is free of charge for the asylum seekers and fully voluntary for the family. Ihab and his uncle moved in Outi’s former garage in January. 2016 Finland.
Ihab and Yousef preparing food at their place. 2016 Finland.
Yousef (l) coming home from playing volleyball in a close by island, hugs Paavo (r), Outi’s son. 2016 Finland.
Yousef, father of 5, playing with Paavo 2016 Finland.
On Mondays Yousef and Ihab go to play volleyball in the nearby island 2016 Finland.
Ihab was called back to finish his interview after almost 3 months from the previous one and this time it was able to complete it. The interviewer said him that because of the long time he has already waiting they’ll try to give him the answer as soon as possible. Ihab anyway is very worried about the possibility to see rejected his asylum application. Finnish immigration service MIGRI, in the latest months has been accepting less and less applicants, and stated that Iraq and Baghdad in 2016 Finland.
Form Velkua there is only on busses per day to reach the city, at 6.40am and one at 4.25pm to come back. Anyway Outi goes to the city almost every because of her work. 2016 Finland.
“I have my last interview next week and after that I’ll wait for the answer. I really don’t know what to do if I’m not accepted in Finland, I can’t go back to Iraq nor to Turkey, because I left illegally and I’d end up in jail there” 2016 Finland.
Unfortunately because of the big numbers of people MIGRI is dealing these days, Ihab only succeeded to start his interview by 2.15pm, this will force him to come back for finishing it. 2016 Finland.
A farmer in the next island asked the help of the two men with some field work. Ihab and Yousef (unseen) waits to board and go to work in the early morning 2016 Finland.
Sometime Ihab and Yousef invite friends at their place, here Ihab smoking the water-pipe with Douro(r), another Iraqi asylum seeker at the moment looking for home accommodation 2016 Finland.
Ihab is used to go few times a week to a nearby farm to buy few litres of fresh milk for home 2016 Finland.
Ihab was suggested by some local friends to go fishing but he forgot to ask where the fish is more abundant. After a second unlucky location he decided try again on a new place 2016 Finland.
Ihab was suggested by some local friends to go fishing but he forgot to ask where the fish is more abundant. He spent few hours trying to find the proper place for catching fish, without any luck 2016 Finland.
Yousef and Ihab aon the dock nearby home in the evening. During next months they are meant to receive an answer about their asylum request 2016 Finland.
A letter will communicate Ihab, in the coming weeks, the day of the next interview. 2016 Finland.
bay area of Teersalo, in Velkua archipelago