Christina Lamb: Refugees aren't just numbers; they are people

Journalist Christina Lamb's book with teenager Nujeen Mustafa, who fled Syria to reach Germany, is a good example of how positivity, even at the toughest times, can make anything possible

Nujeen at the Serbian-Hungarian border - they got there just as Hungary closed the fence and stopped letting people cross, leaving them stranded and forced to find another route. Pic/Caroline Forbes

The AIM of telling this story was to tell people how it feels to be a refugee," says journalist Christina Lamb, the co-author author of Nujeen, the story of Nujeen Mustafa who fled Syria and traveled to Germany on a wheelchair, as she suffered from cerebral palsy. The Kurdish teenager decided to flee her Aleppo apartment, where she self-educated herself, and learnt fluent English by watching American TV and, as civil war broke out around them. Later, ISIS militants were in and around town too. She first fled to Turkey and then her sister and her went with millions others to gain asylum in Europe.

"I was in Hungary last year, when the border was shut, and that's where I first met Nujeen. I realised that it would be good to find one person to tell the tale of the refugee," says the award-winning writer, who also co-wrote I Am Malala, with Malala Yousafzai. "So, I tracked her down. And told her that it may be interesting to tell her story, and she said that she wanted to do it as she wanted to prove that 'refugees aren't just numbers, they are people'. And so we got started."

Christina Lamb. Pic/Caroline Forbes

What worked for Lamb was that she had been reporting on the refugee crisis, and had travelled the whole trail and knew what it took to make the journey. "Refugees never want to leave their country of origin. They stick around as long as they can and then they realise that the war isn't going to end anytime soon, and hence, they then leave," she says.
Through Nujeen's brave tale, the book dwells into what a refugee needs as they make the trip; what will it be like when you reach the country you finally settle down in, and also how you are treated there. What it also highlights is the plight of the Kurds — a sect of people that Nujeen thought not many people knew anything about.

"Did you know that Kurds are the biggest group of stateless people. They eventually could have their own independent country. It also talks about how they have been oppressed in Syria and Turkey. "They were declared foreigners in these countries. They can't work at their place of choice, or congregate where they wanted to. There are strict restrictions." Lamb is sure that the book will work in its objective, which is to show refugees as real people, because of the strong protagonist. "Nujeen just wanted to be somewhere safe, so she knew she would get home every day." These days, the 17-year-old who is going to school for the first time in Germany. The school is one for children with special needs, and she is facing problems with Maths. "She is an adorable girl who is really funny too. Even though she never went to school before, she knew things about subjects such a string theory and space and history. She knows more about The UK that I do!," laughs Lamb. "But the basics are a problem."

It is then that Lamb talks about Nujeen's fighting spirit, and her being the most positive person Lamb has ever come across. "She made this already tough journey on a wheelchair! But despite that, she was positive all the way. These times are grim and depressing, but there wasn't one time when I saw her depressed. And it's not like she is not sad, she realized they may never be able to go back home, but keeping upbeat and positive is a choice she makes."

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