Online photo exhibition

This online photo exhibition is part of the activities carried out within the REFUGOV research endeavour. In Luxembourg, in addition to conducting interviews with refugees and people managing reception facilities, the research also implied taking photographs. The photographs shown here were taken between July and September 2020 by Ayham, who was involved as a student assistant in the research. Ayham was himself a refugee who arrived in Luxembourg from Syria in 2014. He also wrote the captions. They relate to his own experience, as well as the experience of other refugees he met in Luxembourg.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER & THE EXHIBITION

“My name is Ayham. I am a student at the University of Luxembourg, and I have been working on the REFUGOV research for about one year and a half as an Arabic interpreter for interviews with refugees residing in reception facilities in Luxembourg.
During this time, I was learning and absorbing the feelings that each individual has experienced during her or his stay in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. I was listening to all the good and the bad times that refugees faced here, all the resentment and the happiness, the longing for their loved ones back home and the new relationships that they have created in their new home. This reminded me when I arrived here in Luxembourg, in 2014, as a refugee myself before my life changed completely as I ended up becoming a citizen in this country.
When my work as an interpreter was over, my role was to take some photographs to document the research. This gallery will take you through the stories of some refugees in Luxembourg, giving you a glimpse of their lives. You might see for the first time Luxembourg through the eye of a refugee newcomer, maybe a side of Luxembourg that you have never seen, or decided not to look at. These photographs are all related either to places that refugees visit on a regular basis or that capture a special feeling which could be good or bad for them.
Photography is also special for me as it takes me back to the time when I was still living in Syria. I feel a lot of flashback at the moment I look through the camera. For me, photography is a moral duty more than a hobby. My goal is to show the pain that we, refugees, are suffering and the hard life that we are having. Here, I continue this path. In the end, our life here is just a consequence of war, and the world need to know more about the good and bad sides of our new lives”.

The arrival

When I first arrived at the main train station in Luxembourg, it was on a Sunday evening. I looked to my left and looked to my right, there was no one… I thought that I had arrived in a deserted area.

Another refugee once told me that on the evening of his arrival, he went to the police station located at the train station to inform Luxembourgish authorities of his intention to apply for asylum. The police officer on duty that evening answered him: “Here we are closed now, you need to go to the main police station”.

The reception process

They sent me to the reception camp at Don Bosco, I was very happy that I finally arrived in Luxembourg, but it was a bit shocking there, I expected much better. I was sleeping in a big room, this big room was separated into 4 smaller rooms with walls which did not go up to the ceiling. Each of these rooms has 4 to 6 beds, any whisper, cough, or if someone is chewing a gum you could hear it from your room, and the worst is that I needed to walk all the way down to the toilet and come back, which took like 5 minutes at least. But still, I was happy!

Once a refugee told me: “I was very lucky actually, they sent me to the new reception camp in Lily Unden, near the old one Don Bosco, the situation here was amazing, and the people were very nice!”

When I was transferred to a permanent camp, I was transferred to a refugee camp near the German border. Everyone said that it is a good place there, but the only thing I could see on the way there is COWS.

When I was in the refugee camp near the German border, we had no internet inside the camp. The only way to access internet was to go outside on the street. There, one of the neighbour was very kind to share his WIFI with us. It was quite hard as the internet wasn’t so fast, and it was very cold in winter and we needed to hide every time it started to rain. But now in every camp we went to, to do an interview with a resident, it had internet.

The administrative maze

The ministry of immigration is very intimidating, you could barely see a smile there, every aspect of it was scary, the building inside, the many doors they make you walk through, the smell, everything. Especially the fact that for the first interview in the ministry I had to face the police face to face, when during all my life I was trying to avoid the police.

Bus lines 28 or 22. Any refugee must take one of these busses every month, because each month we must go to the ministry of immigration to prove that we are still in the country and put a stamp on the ‘pink paper’.

Samir, an old refugee man, used to live with me in Don Bosco. He told me that one of the main problems he faced when he first arrived was that: “I need to go to the municipality to register there, but I can’t speak any other language, it is very hard, every time I need to go somewhere, I need to ask some of the young guys in the camp to come with me and help me for translation”.

There is a form to get housing support from the Housing Ministry. I have also been filling other paperwork for over five years now, such as for the Housing Fund, to find a house for me, as searching for a house is very difficult, especially for someone with a low income.

Waiting is the main activity for a refugee. Waiting for your papers. Waiting for the 25 Euros you are entitled to at the end of the month, so you can for example cut your hair. Waiting for family reunification so you can finally see your children. Waiting in ONA, the government agency in charge of the reception of refugees, in the line, for the hygiene voucher. Waiting for the train to go to the camp. Waiting….

ADEM public agency for employment in Belval. After receiving their papers in Luxembourg, refugees have two options, either to study or to work, and if you are facing some difficulties to find a job like 99% of refugees, then you must go to ADEM.

Im/mobility

Bridge over the Sauer river, near Berdorf refugee camp: It’s funny that before getting the refugee status in Luxembourg you aren’t allowed to cross to the other side of this bridge because it’s Germany.

Luxembourg main train station: The first time I needed to use the train I was lost, I found very complicated to find which train to take and which platform to go to, but I got used to it very fast.

Every month we used to get a transportation ticket, with which we were allowed to use all types of public transportation in the country, and I saved all of them as a memory.

Longing for home

First time I went to the canteen in Don Bosco I liked it a lot, but I figure out that if I will keep eating just Halal food and no pork, my options will be very limited. Here a photo of a canteen in a public building somewhere in Luxembourg.

Syrian bread. This was one of the first things I bought after arriving to Luxembourg. Almost in every meal we eat Syrian bread back home. I am used to it so much that I had to buy it immediately when I arrived.

In 2014, there were no Syrian shops at all in Luxembourg. Nowadays there are more than five shops all around Luxembourg. In this kind of shops, you can find almost everything you are missing from back home, like here in Esch-Sur-Alzette.

Reappropriating time and space: outdoor activities

Almost every weekend, I used to go with my friends to play football. Almost in every city in Luxembourg there are free football fields, where anyone is allowed to play. The lack of proper clothing and the right shoes did not stop any of us of continuing from playing. This was one of the best stress reliever for me at that time.

Schiessentümpel (Mullerthal), a region also known as ‘little Switzerland’. A great place for hiking, many nature lovers come for camping and hiking in this place. I have been in this place a couple of times with my family and friends and I can’t get enough of it. One of the things I love the most about Luxembourg is the nature! It is very beautiful, especially in the summer.

During an interview with a family in Diekirch refugee camp, I met Adila, a mother of three children. She told me this about her daughter: “I take my daughter after school to the playground near our camp, she feels a bit lonely in the school, the children aren’t talking to her or playing with her, but I tell her that after she learns the language better, everything will change”. View of a playground in Bettembourg.

Diekirch, Sauer river: During an interview with Amin who resides in a refugee camp in Diekirch, he took us to his favourite place, where he goes every time to relax.

Reappropriating time and space: cultural activities

Another refugee told me once: “I just waited the moment when the social workers came and gave us tickets for the theatre, I love going to the theatre”. Grand Theatre in Luxembourg City.

The Kultur Fabrik in Esch-sur-Alzette used to organize some events for refugees and try to involve refugees in cultural activities in the city. They even provided me with hourly paid jobs, which were very helpful for me.

Everyday life

A thing that took me a lot of time to get used to it is recycling. To know which thing goes where and which day to take the trash bins out, it took me a lot of practice and I know that sometimes I am doing some things wrong. Maybe if I got some lessons when I arrived here, it would have made it a bit easier.

In every corner and in every street, on your right and on your left, everywhere you go, you see it, like here in Dudelange! CONSTRUCTIONS. Maybe that’s why everything looks new in Luxembourg.

Inclusion through education?

Language schools are an integral part of any refugee life, hours and hours every week must be spent there. What is great is that it’s free of charge for us.

The typical home library for a refugee includes all variety of books for the three different languages of this country, and very few books to read for fun, because there is no time to read something else. You need to catch up with languages as soon as possible.

When entering the University, I thought that I would be spotted out, that I would be defined there as the refugee, that this would be my thing. This is actually what happened, BUT not in a bad way. I was the only none Luxembourgish student in my class, it was exhausting having to deal with all the languages. My classes were in 3 different languages (French, German, and English) and a lot of times the professors were just switching to Luxembourgish, but when they knew that I am new to the language, I used to get some extra explanations from some professors. My classmates, most of them, were very helpful and handy. And now I am almost done with my master.

During an interview with Djamila, she said: “I have a daughter who has special needs. She gets attention and care from a lot of people, like the social workers, the government. And now she is in a class for people with special needs, where she can draw, paint and do other activities”.

Refugee reception in pictures