Personal stories

Darfur refugee celebrates degree

Ahmed Musa, who landed on Lampedusa in 2011 after fleeing Sudan, has earned his degree in Turin with a dissertation on human rights in Darfur.

'Memories are too fresh and so is the pain': A tale of two teenage friends who survived abuse

Two Sudanese teenagers rescued in August by the Eleonore rescue ship have forged a close bond after enduring violence and abuse while in detention in Libya. The migrants aboard the ship that had been stranded at sea for a week were allowed to disembark in Sicily on Monday.

'We were terrified, but we were coming from hell'

18-year-old Feven, a migrant from Eritrea, was rescued at sea by the Spanish migrant aid organization Proactiva Open Arms. After she disembarked on the island of Lampedusa, she recounted the horrors of her journey to the UNHCR.

Hikma's story: Rescued by Open Arms

18-year-old Hikma from Ethiopia fled from Africa to Europe, passing through Libya. Hikma was rescued at sea by the ship Open Arms and disembarked in Italy. She shared her traumatic story with us.

How one woman forced Cyprus to confront the serial killing of female migrant workers

It only took a few clicks to overturn Maria Mapporidou's life. Shocked by the case of a serial killer who targeted foreign female domestic workers, she decided to organize a small demonstration in Nicosia, the Cypriot capital, via social media. Her appeal was answered by thousands of people, sparking a national debate that had political repercussions.

He was deported. But he's determined to return to Europe.

665 Moroccans were deported from Germany in November 2018. Naseem was one of them. Now, he's willing to do whatever possible to return to Germany.

A Sudanese refugee’s open letter to the European Parliament: 'We sleep under the bridges of your beautiful cities'

InfoMigrants recently received an open letter penned by a Sudanese refugee, Ahmad Gamal, that addresses the European Parliament. After being forced to flee his native Darfur, the 27-year-old arrived in France in 2017 and now studies sociology at a university in Lyon. In his letter, Ahmad urges the EU to make its fatal migration policies more welcoming and humane.

'What I went to Europe to find, I already had at home'

After spending seven years in Spain, Issa went back to live in his village in Senegal. He told InfoMigrants that many people who are headed to Europe underestimate how hard life can be for migrants.

Hussein, a Syrian migrant, was the victim of a racist attack: 'They threw Molotov cocktails into the building'

Hussein landed on the Greek island of Leros with his wife and two children in January. After several weeks in a camp, the Palestinian family from Syria was relocated to the mainland. The International Organization for Migration settled them in a hotel in Vilia, a small town near Athens, with about 20 other families. A few hours after their arrival on March 15, the hotel was attacked by local residents. Hussein gave his testimony to InfoMigrants.

Studying for a future in Germany

Syrian Mohamad Albayat came to Germany at the end of 2015 aged just 23. A few years later he has begun studying for a master's degree in mathematics in the hope of building his future in his new country. Between determination and loneliness, he tells InfoMigrants about his life in Germany.

Outrage in Germany over deportation of Vietnamese dissident

The deportation of writer and dissident Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan, seen as an "enemy of the people" in Vietnam, has drawn fierce condemnation. Critics called the move "incomprehensible" and decried state "incompetence."

WARNING, STRONG IMAGES: In Libya’s Zintan center, migrants starve to death

InfoMigrants has received shocking photographs depicting emaciated bodies along with chilling testimonies suggesting that several migrants have starved to death in Libya’s Zintan detention center in recent weeks. NGOs have repeatedly sounded the alarm over severe malnutrition in Libyan camps.