This is a fictional account.
Yara Algafari is a twelve year old girl who lives in Raqqa, Syria with her father, Farid, her mother, Rima and her infant brother, Nabil. Life has always been difficult for Yara and her family during her short lifetime. They lived for years under the oppression of President Bashar al-Assad until 2011 when Arab Spring came. The success of protests throughout the Middle East gave Yara’s family hope that a new day might be coming. Instead President al-Assad tried to crush the rebellion with brutal methods and the rebels splintered into different groups such as the Free Syrian Army, Al Quaeda and the group that took over her city, Daesh.
Life before Daesh was difficult but since they took over the city Yara’s family’s life has become hell on earth. They immediately instituted strict Sharia law. Yara’s family had been more secular so this was a big change for them. The women had to wear the hijab anytime they went outside. One day Daesh gathered her entire village together to watch as a woman and a man were stoned to death. They were accused of adultery. Yara watched the scene in terror and tried to protect her baby brother.
One day one of the leaders of Daesh came to her home and yelled at her father that he must join their army and fight al-Assad and the crusaders. Her father said he would never join them so one of them men went to her brother’s crib and beheaded the tiny infant with their sword. Her mother screamed and fell to her knees wailing and Yara went and hid behind the couch weeping and praying for Allah to help them. The men told her father you will join. There will be no more argument. They left the family to bury the tiny body.
That night her father said we must leave Syria. I cannot allow anything else to happen to our family and they made plans to flee. After several weeks, when her father was sure that Daesh was no longer watching them so constantly, they gathered only what they could wear on their backs and left in the wee hours of the night. By moving swiftly, with Yara’s father carrying her on his back to speed their progress they managed to make it across the border to a refugee camp in Turkey. The conditions there were terrible as there were so many people and not enough food, shelter and clothing to adequately take care of them all.
From Turkey they had to cross the Mediterranean into Greece. They were taken in small boats overcrowded with refugees desperate to fleet to safety. Several people fell over and died during the crossing. Once Yara fell out of the boat and her father had to jump into the water to save her. Back on the boat the little family clung to each other, terrified but fiercely determined to make it to Greece.
In Greece they went into another refugee camp. Again, the camp was overcrowded with so many people fleeing the danger of their home land but there were many aid organizations helping and life there was tolerable. They went to the UN and applied for refugee status and asylum in the US. They were told the waiting list could take up to two years. During that time Yara and her family remained in the camp where they became closer than ever and met many others in the same situation as they.
After two years, they were finally told they could enter the US. They were so excited. They just knew that once they got to America they would be safe and could rebuild their lives. They were told they were to be resettled in a town called Irving in the state of Texas. After a long flight and a ton of paperwork they were finally brought to their new home in America. They had next to nothing and would have to completely rebuild their lives. Happily, there are organizations that will help them to learn English, train for and find work and help them gain citizenship if they choose to do that. They were thrilled to start their new lives.
Their first night in their new town they went to the mosque and to their astonishment there were armed men in camouflage carrying guns and marching around the mosque shouting terrible things about Islam and Islamic people. Yara and her family watched in silence until Yara turned to her father and asked, “Papa, why does everyone hate us? Is there no where we can go and find peace?” In this way this family, who had been through hell to get here, were welcomed to America.