Personal stories

Alhassane's story: 'They see me as a human, a person'

Alhassane came to Italy as a refugee from Niger. An Italian family decided to host him in their home, enabling him to study to become a healthcare worker.

'They disappeared into the fog': Nada's sister and nephew are missing off the coast of Andalusia

Hizia, a 39-year-old Algerian woman, set sail for Spain on the evening of December 31. She was traveling with her two children, 9-year-old Mohammed and 14-year-old Omar. They left Oran on the Algerian coast with 13 other people, but the boat capsized off the coast of Andalusia. Omar was rescued by a merchant ship, but Hizia and her youngest son are still missing.

'I was tricked, now I'm stuck': A scam left Congolese Cedric homeless in Ukraine

Cedric dreamed of reaching Germany to escape poverty in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The young man contacted a travel agency to obtain a student visa for Ukraine and, from there, hoped to get to Germany. But nothing went as planned. Stranded in Ukraine, he has lost everything.

Amanal Petros: Chasing records in Europe with Ethiopia on his mind

Germany's fastest marathon runner has broken record upon record. While Amanal Petros' sporting career could hardly be going any better, he finds it hard to keep his mind off a military conflict back home.

Chris Obehi: From Warri to Palermo - two places to call home

Chris Obehi is a young Nigerian musician, singer and songwriter. After migrating from Warri, in Nigeria to Palermo, in Sicily, he began busking and mixing sounds from Nigeria with songs from his adopted culture in Sicily. The result is an award-winning new album: Obehi.

Raped 'every night' in Libyan prison until she gave birth: Sarah

After receiving threats in Côte d'Ivoire, 19-year-old Sarah fled to Libya. Shortly after her arrival, she was arrested and imprisoned in Tajoura, a suburb of Tripoli. She says the prison guards raped her every night until she gave birth to her son. Today, the young woman dreams of crossing the Mediterranean Sea. This is her story.

Jean: 'I was kidnapped in Tripoli'

Since leaving his home in Cameroon, Jean* has traveled through at least seven countries, including Libya, where he was kidnapped. In November he finally reached Germany, where he has applied for asylum. This is his story.

'My plan has always been to get to the UK': 21-year-old Harish, stuck between borders

21-year-old Harish from Iraqi Kurdistan has been living in one of the Grande-Synthe camps, near Calais, for 10 days. In the course of just a few weeks of travelling around Europe, Harish has found himself at the heart of the two major hotspots of the migratory crisis, on the Polish border and the French coast.

Amer's story: From Damascus to the border with Poland

This is the story of Amer, a former Syrian school teacher who ended up in Belarus from Damascus in search of a better future in Europe. He has been living in a basement on the outskirts of Minsk while waiting for a call from a smuggler who is supposed to take him to Germany.

Anthony's story: 'I suffered in Africa and I'm coming to suffer here again'

Anthony from Liberia has spent the past seven months in a reception center for asylum seekers in the town of Eisenhüttenstadt in east Germany, near the Polish border. This is his story.

Determined to leave: 'Either I die at sea or I manage to get to Europe'

Ali has boarded a dinghy seven times in an attempt to reach the island of Lampedusa, located about 260 kilometers from the southern Tunisian city of Zarzis. This 27-year-old Tunisian, whose older brother disappeared at sea, remains determined to try his luck again, despite the risks. He tells InfoMigrants his story.

Lithuania migrant camp: 'We Black women are not believed when we say we are in pain'

Emerald* arrived in Lithuania in early July. This young Congolese woman lived for a while in the Pabadré camp before being moved to another camp, Medininkai, on the Belarusian border. She spoke to InfoMigrants about her daily life, between practical difficulties and despair at having her asylum application rejected.