We were able to meet a Palestinian, hereinafter named A. , a father separated from his family since the intensification of colonial violence in Palestine.
A. He left the territory of Gaza in March 2024, but he could not include his family at the Egyptian border because the sums required for the crossing were exorbitant. An amount of $25,000, or $5,000 per person. His wife advised him to go alone and find some security and stability somewhere so she and the children could join him there later. Since that day they have been separated, and today still, they have not seen each other again. He then decided to join Belgium, also considering the future of his children, their studies, and his career. By trying to rebuild what the war has destroyed. He was imagining Belgium as a potential hope, a multi-cultural community that would have accept him and his family.
For several years A. worked as a Program Director at a University in Gaza. Travelling many times in Europe to develop Erasmus projects, his last visa, obtained at the Slovak embassy in Tel-Aviv, allowed him to move around the Shengen space. He arrives at the airport of Zaventem on 1 April 2024. However, in a desperate act, he destroys his visa, fearing that he will be sent back to Egypt. Like many people in transit, and without stability, uncertainty and fear of being sent back leads to the destruction of identity documents. He is then arrested and taken to the closed center Caricole.
After two months of detention he is deported to Slovakia under the Dublin procedure. This procedure allows people to be locked up and deported to a country where they are supposed to continue their asylum claim. This may be the first country of entry, where one gives his fingerprints for the first time in Europe or, in the case of A, the country mentioned on his visa. Once in Slovakia, A. spends three weeks in isolation in a closed camp in Humenné. He then spent two months in an open camp, the Accommodation center of Rohovce. A. was able to obtain his Slovak papers on 5 September 2024. Only, before the borders close, if his family wanted to join him, they had to go through the steps he went through in Slovakia (closed centre and open centre). If he does not find a job quickly, the help he obtained in Slovakia (480 € per month for 6 months) will be stopped. For A., finding a job in Slovakia is almost impossible, since he does not speak the Slovak language and it is very difficult to manage as an english speaker. In addition, both in Belgium and Slovakia, A. was able to observe that what the labour market offered him was often relayed to occupations far from the qualifications and skills he actually possessed. He believes that these systemic barriers not only impede personal growth but also spoil the potential contribution that individuals could make to society. The case of A. is symptomatic of an overall functioning, which deprives people of their right to exercise their own life choices and autonomy.
The idea is not to idealize or compare reception systems in different EU countries, but to understand that it is part of the same system. This makes the procedures very long, complex and criminalizing while here we are dealing with a man fleeing the Gaza strip, bombarded relentlessly for many months and where every day is counted for those who stayed. Especially since A. comes from an elevated social background, he has economies that allow him to survive but this is not the case for all Palestinian refugees who have left their land.
We find it important to relay this situation, which highlights the steps and long months of waiting that these procedures involve. What A. and his family are experiencing is not considered as an emergency. And this, in the continuity of a genocide in Palestine whose violence is still present, and of which European countries are noteworthy actors.
Words of A.
“My wish is simple yet profound: to provide my children with a sense of normalcy, to see them thrive in their education, and to give them a life free from fear. We dream of a place where opportunities abound, where I can contribute to a community that welcomes us, and where we can live without the shadow of war.This journey is not just mine; it is the story of countless others who are seeking safety, stability and a chance to start anew. It is a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring hope that drives us forward.
Fire at the borders and their world!
Freedom of movement and installation for all!
Free Palestine!
