"My baby was weak but we kept going; we were almost there"

Listen to the original 2015 podcast

She and her husband Brindar ran for their lives from Islamic State to Turkey in September 2014 with their first born baby - 5 month old Bella.

Sleeping rough in parks, Bella soon fell ill.

Source: Ronak

At the time, Ronak was pregnant with her second daughter, Aya. The death of Bella left the couple in complete and utter misery. In November 2014, Brindar made the decision to flee to Germany to try and obtain residency and lay the groundwork for a new life for his young family.

Source: Ronak

After Aya was born, Ronak thought it was too hard to go back to Kobani, and also there was no future in Turkey, so she made the decision to begin the journey to join her husband in Germany – 10 months after he had left.

August 2015

Source: Ronak

Source: Ronak

KOS, GREECE - AUGUST 15:A Syrian refugee as they arrive at a beach on the Greek island of Kos after crossing a part of the Aegean sea from Turkey to Greece on a dinghy August 15, 2015. Source: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

The situation in Kos worsens as migrants continue to arrive (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

Click on key points on the map to learn more about Ronak's journey and the countries she's travelled through. 

For real-time updates on refugee and migrant sea arrivals in the Mediterraenan, head to UNHCR.org.

Source: UNHCR

Image: data.UNHCR.org (as of November 4, 2015)

The Syrian Government says the refugee crisis is the responsibility of Europe and countries supporting and funding – what it calls – “terrorists” in Syria. President Bashar al Assad says the refugee flow will only stop when terrorism is defeated.

SBS Arabic program producer, Heba Kassoua, comes from Syria. She says most people are fleeing threats from either the Assad government or I.S.

From Syria most refugees cross into neighbouring Turkey…

SBS Radio Turkish program producer Nilgun Kilic says Turkey has made huge sacrifices in hosting more than two million Syrians and Iraqis.

August 6, 2015

Many others have made similar risky boat journeys with thousands being lost at sea.

Migrants would typically pay smugglers in Turkey about 3000 euros to transport them though gruelling conditions to Germany, joining the countless Syrians desperately seeking refugee status there.

Ronak says her husband sold his car and she sold her gold jewellery to pay for their passage to Germany. She says she had to buy a tent to sleep on the beach when they got to Greece.

Source: Ronak

Ronak walks with baby Aya strapped to her chest toward the Macedonian border.

Baby Aya lying on a beach just outside their tent in Kos, Greece.

Dina Gerolymou from SBS Radio’s Greek program says about three quarters of the people who have crossed the Mediterranean this year to reach Europe have done so through Greece.

She says the Greek people are disappointed and angry at the lack of support from the EU especially in the aftermath of tragedies when islanders have to deal with the horror of bodies washing up on their beaches.

Ronak and baby Aya are in a group of several dozen people, all strangers, who started the journey with them in Turkey. The group eventually were able to catch a bus from inside Greece to the Macedonian border.

Macedonia is primarily a transit country for the mass movement of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Margarita Vasileva from SBS Radio’s Macedonian program says it’s notable that Macedonia is the only non-EU country receiving refugees from an EU country - Greece.

August 20, 2015

Ronak and her baby did not spend much time in Macedonia, transiting quite quickly to Serbia. She says the smugglers told them to walk to a registration camp where a bus would take them to the capital, Belgrade.

Source: Ronak

At the Serbian border, August 20, 2015 

Branko Cvetojevic from SBS Radio’s Serbian program says Serbia’s geographical position has made it an unavoidable part of the route for almost all people fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty in the Middle East. Serbia is the last non EU member on the journey north before entering continuous European Union territory.

August 2015

Part of Ronak’s journey in Serbia was on a train.

After eight hours on the train, she faced another five hour taxi ride to Hungary.

Ronak says she was exhausted. “I had no energy, my baby was weak but we kept going. We were almost there.”

Source: Schmidt Andrea / Creative commons

A fence now lines the Hungarian border where Ronak managed to cross on her journey to Germany. (Délmagyarország/Schmidt Andrea) 

After being dropped in a forest by taxi - the group walked through the night.

“When we reached a town everyone was too scared to keep going for fear of getting caught. I turned around and shouted, ‘We’ve come this far, I’m going, it’s up to you, I’m about to lose my daughter’. I only had a little bit of water left for her. We hadn’t eaten in three days. They all started to follow and then the police took us to the refugee camp”.

The camp was overcrowded so the group slept on the street in Belgrade for 5 days. Then they were told they would have to pay more money to continue their journey.

Many of the refugees who travel through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary are vulnerable to human traffickers, gangs and corrupt officials.

Like most people making this journey, Ronak’s group did not want to be caught and fingerprinted by Hungarian authorities, believing that registration in Hungary would hurt their chances of asylum in Western Europe.

They feared the implementation of the Dublin Regulation, under which asylum seekers who reach Europe can be sent back to the first country where they are registered.

This was also seen as a magnet – a real pull factor - for people fleeing conflict, who accelerated their journey for fear of missing out later on.

Hungary has been less welcoming of asylum seekers than Germany.

Kata Kiss from SBS Radio’s Hungarian program says the right wing government in Hungary has taken a hardline stance – worried about what it calls the Islamification of Europe.

The new bottleneck created by the Hungarian razor wire fence has forced many refugees to change their route north and go through Croatia instead.

BARANJSKO PETROVO SELO, CROATIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Migrants arrive at a border point between Croatia and Hungary where they will be transported to Austria on September 24, 2015 in Baranjsko Petrovo Selo, Croatia. More than 40,000 migrants have crossed into Croatia from Serbia since Tuesday last week. Source: David Ramos / Getty Images

Croatia moves migrants on toward the Hungarian Border (Getty images)

But Ronak made it through before Hungary had completely finished building the border fence. Ronak’s group of asylum seekers were now nearing the end of their 20 day journey to Germany. The last country between Hungary and Germany on the migration route is Austria. 

Maria Schaller is from Austria and is a producer at SBS Radio’s German program. She says while Austria is a desirable destination for refugees – many want to continue on.

August 2015

After a combination of travel by boats, trains, taxis, vans and lots of walking, Ronak was just a few days away from being reunited with her husband in Germany.

She says the trip from Serbia – through Hungary and Austria – was fast but almost fatal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the controversial decision in September to open Germany’s borders to refugees, even as some of its European neighbours were scrambling to keep them out. Ms Merkel says she will not back down from her refugee policy. This put her in contention to win the 2015 Nobel peace prize, but has seen her support at home plummet in opinion polls.

Ms Merkel says providing shelter to so many people will be Germany's greatest challenge since reunification.

SBS Radio German program producer, Maria Schaller says refugees in Germany could boost the labour force – turning crisis into opportunity for both the host nation and those seeking shelter from persecution and violence.

August 30, 2015

The smugglers had promised to take them to Munich in Germany where most refugees where being processed but instead they dropped them just over the border near a forest. That is where they gave themselves up to local police and were kept in custody for two days. Once all the paperwork had been completed, they were taken to refugee camps and Ronak’s husband Brindar travelled 11 hours from Dortmund to collect his wife and baby.

Brindar has been given a three year residency permit by Germany.

Ronak and Aya are in a camp in Hünsborn, awaiting final clearance, before rejoining Brindar just 90km away in Datteln, near Dortmund.

Ronak says she feels safe and is very grateful to Germany for giving them refuge from the war in Syria and the terror of Islamic State.

Ronak and baby Aya in Germany Source: Ronak

Ronak and baby Aya, finally in Germany.

Ronak, Brindar and baby Aya Source: Ronak

Ronak, Brindar and baby Aya expect to be permanently reunited soon.

Ronak sent this video message from Germany to express her appreciation.

Credits:

Produced by Andrew Bolton with the collaboration of Mayada (May) and Shireen Khalil, Heba Kassoua, Roza Germian, Nilgun Kilic, Dina Gerolymou, Margarita Vasileva, Branko Cvetojevic, Kata Kiss, Maria Schaller, Zoe Sainsbury, Florencia Melgar and Ron Sutton.

With deep gratitude to Ronak for allowing us to tell her story.

In loving memory always...

Source: Ronak

Dedicated to Baby Bella who died on her journey to freedom.