[Applause]
June 15 2013 was my last day of high
school as you might imagine I was
excited and nervous at the same time
excited because school was finally over
and I couldn’t wait to go to university
nervous because I was not completely
sure that college was a dual doable plan
and I was right to be nervous when
Bashar Assad forces retreated from the
city we dare to dream about living in
peace but soon his barrel bombs and were
planes made us realized that there is no
safety anymore
later on Isis took over the city and of
course they started enforcing their
rules they closed schools they destroyed
churches they blew up everything they
claimed it was forbidden for us girls we
were forced to wear new cops cover our
faces and we were not allowed to leave
the house without a male relative
everybody spoke against them got killed
once I got a gun pointed at my head
because an Isis soldier claimed that I
was not properly covered left with any
other alternative my family and I
escaped to kobani but just like Raqqa
kobani was also left to the devastation
of Isis our house was a pile of rubble
people close to me got killed
and at that moment my dreams would were
smashed but instead I chose to fight
even harder to achieve them and in
November 2015 I decided to leave Syria
and come to Europe before leaving I met
the Norwegian journalist Anders hammer
and after discussing documenting my
journey he gave me a GoPro and he taught
me the basics of filming when the time
came to leave I packed my stuff I took
two pair of pants to pullovers my
passport pictures of my mother my high
school diploma and of course my Game of
Thrones DVDs I was I was terrified
because so many people got shot trying
to cross the borders it took me four
attempts to cross this narrow no-man’s
land between Turkey and Syria but when I
arrived there I thought that the worst
was finally over in Turkey I met with my
friend Ayman in Syria he had to drop out
of university after he was detained by
the regime as he was one of the
activists in the revolution in March
2016 we managed to find a spot on a
rubber boat and a rubber boat as many
refugees we would had to cross the
Mediterranean to get to Greece I was I
was petrified I can’t swim I’ve always
been afraid of water and I prayed that
the smuggler would not call us
but he ended up calling us back
[Music]
the time we spent on that boat seemed
like never-ending we thought were going
to drown and at the same time I was
thinking why why do I have to go through
this why can’t I just grab my passport
get on a plane and go to a safe country
why is it my fault that there’s a war in
my country now I felt weak
I felt stateless I felt as a true victim
of this world’s cruelty nothing more
fortunately a boat was passing by and
rescued us when we first arrived to the
Greek island of Lesbos again I thought
that the worst was over we were finally
at the cradle of the Western democracy
and to be honest the help and the
kindness of many volunteers made me feel
optimistic after spending a few days in
a refugee camp we would had to go to the
Macedonian borders there we were stuck
for two and a half months together with
other 12,000 refugee
I was shocked shocked by how people were
treated shocked by the system that was
clearly broken our asylum applications
were supposed to be initiated by a Skype
call
but these calls were never picked up and
nothing ever happened rain made our tent
soaking wet diseases were spread and
people became sick and there were rumors
of women and children being abused so
when in desperation we tried to cross
the borders to Macedonia the Macedonian
police shot at us with rubber
both with the rubber bullets and tear
gas
[Applause]
after this we had to find another way
Amon and I had to find another way so
with the help of a big loan a smuggler
and a fake passport
we got smuggled to Austria there we
applied for asylum and now I have been
granted to stay for three years there in
studying German and I hope to start
University soon when during the whole
escape I stayed in touch with hammer and
also I document I kept on documenting
because the media was talking about it
like as if it’s not happening anymore as
if thousands of refugees are still stuck
in Greece Macedonia Serbia all the way
to Austria and because I felt that I had
the right to tell my own story I had the
right to give a human face to the cause
our documentary was published last
August by the Guardian and in the first
week it was viewed over 8 million times
we did not expect that but now that I
have the time to step back I think I get
why the story resonated that much you
see all over Europe you hear governments
complaining about the integration of
refugees but integration cannot be
learned through isolation and rejection
we are we want to dive in our new homes
but I still have hope because
governments have failed us but people
haven’t
today I’m 22 years old and I spent the
last year and a half of my life escaping
my own country a year and a half during
which I had no idea whether I’m going to
live or not believe me when I say I have
no regrets because it made me who I am
it also made me appreciate the smallest
things in life like not waking up to the
sound of bombing or freezing in a wet
tent but in a comfortable bed instead it
also made me appreciate present moments
present moment we are now sharing now
Paris think about it you have the luxury
to not consider time as a dangerous
concept that might kill you but as an
opportunity to thrive so make it count
thank you
thank you so much
okay
thank you
June 15 2013 was my last day of high
school as you might imagine I was
excited and nervous at the same time
excited because school was finally over
and I couldn’t wait to go to university
nervous because I was not completely
sure that college was a dual doable plan
and I was right to be nervous when
Bashar Assad forces retreated from the
city we dare to dream about living in
peace but soon his barrel bombs and were
planes made us realized that there is no
safety anymore
later on Isis took over the city and of
course they started enforcing their
rules they closed schools they destroyed
churches they blew up everything they
claimed it was forbidden for us girls we
were forced to wear new cops cover our
faces and we were not allowed to leave
the house without a male relative
everybody spoke against them got killed
once I got a gun pointed at my head
because an Isis soldier claimed that I
was not properly covered left with any
other alternative my family and I
escaped to kobani but just like Raqqa
kobani was also left to the devastation
of Isis our house was a pile of rubble
people close to me got killed
and at that moment my dreams would were
smashed but instead I chose to fight
even harder to achieve them and in
November 2015 I decided to leave Syria
and come to Europe before leaving I met
the Norwegian journalist Anders hammer
and after discussing documenting my
journey he gave me a GoPro and he taught
me the basics of filming when the time
came to leave I packed my stuff I took
two pair of pants to pullovers my
passport pictures of my mother my high
school diploma and of course my Game of
Thrones DVDs I was I was terrified
because so many people got shot trying
to cross the borders it took me four
attempts to cross this narrow no-man’s
land between Turkey and Syria but when I
arrived there I thought that the worst
was finally over in Turkey I met with my
friend Ayman in Syria he had to drop out
of university after he was detained by
the regime as he was one of the
activists in the revolution in March
2016 we managed to find a spot on a
rubber boat and a rubber boat as many
refugees we would had to cross the
Mediterranean to get to Greece I was I
was petrified I can’t swim I’ve always
been afraid of water and I prayed that
the smuggler would not call us
but he ended up calling us back
[Music]
the time we spent on that boat seemed
like never-ending we thought were going
to drown and at the same time I was
thinking why why do I have to go through
this why can’t I just grab my passport
get on a plane and go to a safe country
why is it my fault that there’s a war in
my country now I felt weak
I felt stateless I felt as a true victim
of this world’s cruelty nothing more
fortunately a boat was passing by and
rescued us when we first arrived to the
Greek island of Lesbos again I thought
that the worst was over we were finally
at the cradle of the Western democracy
and to be honest the help and the
kindness of many volunteers made me feel
optimistic after spending a few days in
a refugee camp we would had to go to the
Macedonian borders there we were stuck
for two and a half months together with
other 12,000 refugee
I was shocked shocked by how people were
treated shocked by the system that was
clearly broken our asylum applications
were supposed to be initiated by a Skype
call
but these calls were never picked up and
nothing ever happened rain made our tent
soaking wet diseases were spread and
people became sick and there were rumors
of women and children being abused so
when in desperation we tried to cross
the borders to Macedonia the Macedonian
police shot at us with rubber
both with the rubber bullets and tear
gas
[Applause]
after this we had to find another way
Amon and I had to find another way so
with the help of a big loan a smuggler
and a fake passport
we got smuggled to Austria there we
applied for asylum and now I have been
granted to stay for three years there in
studying German and I hope to start
University soon when during the whole
escape I stayed in touch with hammer and
also I document I kept on documenting
because the media was talking about it
like as if it’s not happening anymore as
if thousands of refugees are still stuck
in Greece Macedonia Serbia all the way
to Austria and because I felt that I had
the right to tell my own story I had the
right to give a human face to the cause
our documentary was published last
August by the Guardian and in the first
week it was viewed over 8 million times
we did not expect that but now that I
have the time to step back I think I get
why the story resonated that much you
see all over Europe you hear governments
complaining about the integration of
refugees but integration cannot be
learned through isolation and rejection
we are we want to dive in our new homes
but I still have hope because
governments have failed us but people
haven’t
today I’m 22 years old and I spent the
last year and a half of my life escaping
my own country a year and a half during
which I had no idea whether I’m going to
live or not believe me when I say I have
no regrets because it made me who I am
it also made me appreciate the smallest
things in life like not waking up to the
sound of bombing or freezing in a wet
tent but in a comfortable bed instead it
also made me appreciate present moments
present moment we are now sharing now
Paris think about it you have the luxury
to not consider time as a dangerous
concept that might kill you but as an
opportunity to thrive so make it count
thank you
thank you so much
okay
thank you
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