Escape: “I Had Seen the Deaths of My Children with My Own Eyes”

This chapter delves into the uncertain and risky journeys of asylum seekers fleeing ethnic and religious persecution in their home countries to specific European destination countries. These journeys, however, are not always straightforward and sometimes result in the loss of the refugees’ lives. The chapter serves as a forum for the Kurdish-Yezidi refugees to talk about their search for smuggler networks and encounters with smugglers and border guards. They narrate their struggle to survive the mistreatment and abandonment by smugglers and the persecution and cruelty at the hands of border guards. Their struggle is based on the provision of mutual solidarity, including vital information about alternative routes. Finally, refugees talk about the motivations behind their countries of destination and the factors that influence their decisions.