Addional information on Abbas Khider

“You’re like a child. You’ve no idea what goes on out there in the world.”
After I’d drunk some tea and smoked a cigarette, we got into bed and I fell asleep. I woke up and I
could hear Miriam. “So?”
“I’ve got the visa and the ticket. The ship sails this afternoon at four”, answered the Turk.
Miriam looked at the clock on the wall. “We’ve got two hours.”
I boarded the ship. Miriam stood on the harbour. With one hand she waved at me, with the other
she wiped away her tears.
Since then I’ve heard nothing more from Miriam. In the space of one year I sent her six letters. I
posted them to the hotel. But not once did I get a reply.
I swear on Miriam that I myself can hardly believe what I’m writing here. What happened after that
wouldn’t even happen in a fairytale. For example, what happened in Istanbul. I was sitting with
twenty Kurds in a two-bedroom flat on the top floor which was barely thirty square metres.
There was also a Turkmen from Iraq. Ahmed was his name and he was very handsome, and dreamed
of going to Germany and becoming a great artist there. The flat belonged to the people smuggler,
who was supposed to get us to Greece soon. The smuggler had run into me on Taksim Square. He
came straight up to me and asked me in broken English:
“Greece?”
“What?”
“Are you Iraqi, Iranian, Pakistani or Afghan? Greece?”
“I’m Iraqi.”
“Me too, but I’m Kurdish.”
“Great!”
“Do you want to go by foot or by car?”
“What’s the difference?”
“By foot it takes nearly twenty days and costs 500 Dollars. By car it only takes two days, but it’s 1500
Dollars.”
“I haven’t got much money. So by foot please.”
“Come with me.”
People smugglers know their clientele very well. A refugee doesn’t walk around the streets like a
normal person. He thinks everyone around him is a policeman. He’s suspicious of everyone. He’s not
interested in the shop windows, or posters, or even women. He only observes people’s faces and his
eyes wander here and there anxiously. Like a clock that’s gone mad. He’s constantly turning around
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