‘We decided to flee after the bomb attack.’

What kind of journey do the refugees staying at the Sports Centre, have behind them? It took Ahmed, Aliya and their young son Adam 21 days to get from Iraq to the Netherlands. The family has been set up at Erasmus University’s Sports Centre since Thursday. The French press agency AFP recently produced a report on the refugees.

Ahmed, Aliya and Adam are three of the 200 refugees who will be accommodated at the Sports Centre until Thursday. According to Aliya, they are treated well: “The facilities are great and they’re taking good care of us. The only real inconvenience is having to sleep in one big hall. There’s no privacy.”

Bomb attack

The couple decided to flee to Europe after a bomb exploded in a Baghdad restaurant while they were dining there. They borrowed 9,000 euros from Ahmed’s uncle for the journey. It was a very stressful period, explains Ahmed in the short AFD report. The couple doesn’t want to say a lot more about their journey. “Watch the video,” says Ahmed. “That will give you a good idea.”

Watch the video on Youtube