Personal stories

Daoud's story: He lived his whole life in Libya, yet can't become a citizen

Daoud was born and raised in Libya to parents originally from Guinea. His fiancé Aisha was also born in Libya and grew up there, but holds Malian nationality. Despite spending their entire lives in Libya, they doubt they have a future there because there's no path to citizenship for them.

Rama’s story: 'Employers always say the same thing, no asylum seekers here'

Rama* left Guinea almost three years ago because she feared for her life. She arrived in Cyprus to begin again. This is her story.

Lena's story part 2: 'Starting from scratch in Bulgaria'

Lena* is a communications professional. She ran her own agency in Ukraine and was used to being independent. Five days after the war started, she felt she had no other option but to flee Kyiv with her son. She is now in Bulgaria, attempting to put her life back together again "from scratch."

'Ready to face challenges in a new country': 72-year-old Ukrainian on fleeing war

After the Russian army bombed her town, Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, Valentina Ejova decided to flee. The 72-year-old Ukrainian woman first made her way to Moldova and then to Austria. This is her story, as told to the United Nations Population Fund.

Ukrainian mother and disabled daughter escape Russian occupied territory

Oxana fled the war in Ukraine with her disabled daughter and her 17-year-old son. An Italian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission helped them escape to safety in Romania. They will soon be hosted in Bologna, Italy, where the girl will receive medical support.

'If we complain, they fire us': Samir, an undocumented worker in France

Samir* worked for over a year using false papers for the DPD delivery group in the Paris region. Frustrated by the working conditions, which he describes as "slavery", the Algerian started a strike with 70 other colleagues, who were also undocumented. For four months, the strikers have been demanding to have their situation regularized.

Kabul escapee now helps refugees in Poland

Abdul Rashid, a former translator for the Polish forces in Afghanistan, was evacuated to Poland after the Taliban takeover. Now he is witnessing the pain of another escape, the mass displacement of people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For Rashid it was clear he needed to help.

'One family' - how a Syrian refugee helps Ukrainians fleeing war

More than three million people have fled Ukraine, moving west — for the most part — to neighboring countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania. But one person has decided to move in the other direction, getting dangerously close to the Ukrainian border to help war refugees.

A German travel agent turned Ukraine aid worker

Marten Lange-Siebenthaler used to make a living organizing holiday trips to Ukraine. When the war broke out, he switched to sending humanitarian aid, rather than tourists, to the country.

Nigerian denounces 'two lines to flee Ukraine'

Alexander Somto Orah, a 25 year-old Nigerian man, has denounced racism in Ukraine. He said there were two lines at the train station in Kyiv for those who wanted to get on a train to cross the border: one for Ukrainians and Europeans and another for Africans, Asians and people of color.

The story of one Kenyan student fleeing Ukraine

Among the more than one million people who fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine are thousands of foreigners. Medical student Linda Omwenga from Kenya is one of them. Her treacherous journey to safety from Kyiv to Warsaw together with nine other Kenyans took two and half long days.

Foreign students in Ukraine try to flee from gunfire

On the day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many foreigners living in Ukraine contacted InfoMigrants. Like the Ukrainian population, they now fear for their lives. One of them is Zhiar, a medical student from Iraqi Kurdistan, who was injured in a bombardment in Kharkiv and is now trying to flee westward.