Evros River
Kif Kif contributor Nour Sweid fled the war in Syria, and was the target of violent pushbacks by Greek border guards on his way to Europe. He recited this text during the Club Kif Kif meeting in december.
By Nour Sweid
By the Evros River, the border between Turkey and Greece, or as migrants call it, the River of Death, I stand naked with a group of seekers of life. That night was the darkest; I look around and see nothing but the glowing tips of soldiers’ cigarettes, and their demonic intentions.
And on the other side of the river, I see the jacket of my mother, waving in the air, hanging prominently. Her jacket is warm! My backbone shivers from the cold; I feel like my heart has turned into a piece of ice.
The Greek soldier is ready to push us into the river. I hear the clattering of the teeth of my friend who doesn’t know how to swim, and I hear his loud self-questioning about whether there is life after death. As for me, I look at my mother’s jacket and wonder if there is life before death!
Nour Sweid witnessed the beginning of the Syrian war and fled with his family from Syria to Istanbul in 2016. He crossed the Mediterranean to Belgium in 2022. He knows what it means to be a victim of violence, war and migration, what it means to be an outcast. That is why he makes the stories of war victims and asylum seekers his main themes. He always tries to shed light on the suffering of people in vulnerable circumstances and those whose voices are not heard. He studied film and dreams of making his own film.
