(Reporting by Lama Shammas; Translation by Yusra Ahmed)
Leen, a 20-year-old Syrian girl lives alone in Istanbul, disappointed and depressed with no interest in life after losing everything in Syria.
She lived with her father and brother in Damascus, her mother died when she was young. Her relations with relatives were limited because her mother was Christian and her father Muslim, which led the families from both sides to abandon them.
She participated in many demonstrations against the Syrian regime with her brother, in al-Midan neighborhood in Damascus, she was detained many times.
Her father was arrested in 2012, and she was not able to know anything about him afterward, her brother was arrested as well and still till now in prison.
“We were rich, I think my father was arrested because he worked in money exchange, we were not able to know anything about him, although I and my brother asked a lot about him”, she detailed.
After short period she was arrested in a demonstration where she suffered of emotional stress from hearing the shouts of pain of her friends under torture.
Leen revealed that she witnessed many case of girls were taken and raped, one of them a daughter of well known figure in Syrian regime, who denied her and was raped afterward.
After she was released, Leen decided to leave Damascus and the whole country, and went to Istanbul, where she suffered of another kind of difficulties and hard life.
She lives now in a shared accommodation with other Syrian girls, but she prefers not to talk to anyone and does not feel the interest in life.
She worked in many jobs which had not crossed her mind before that she would do them when she was with her father, like working in a tailor workshop, then a waitress in Syrian and Turkish restaurants, where she was exploited because of her young age and her need for money. Now she is looking for a new job respects her needs and circumstances.
Leen, a 20-year-old Syrian girl lives alone in Istanbul, disappointed and depressed with no interest in life after losing everything in Syria.
She lived with her father and brother in Damascus, her mother died when she was young. Her relations with relatives were limited because her mother was Christian and her father Muslim, which led the families from both sides to abandon them.
She participated in many demonstrations against the Syrian regime with her brother, in al-Midan neighborhood in Damascus, she was detained many times.
Her father was arrested in 2012, and she was not able to know anything about him afterward, her brother was arrested as well and still till now in prison.
“We were rich, I think my father was arrested because he worked in money exchange, we were not able to know anything about him, although I and my brother asked a lot about him”, she detailed.
After short period she was arrested in a demonstration where she suffered of emotional stress from hearing the shouts of pain of her friends under torture.
Leen revealed that she witnessed many case of girls were taken and raped, one of them a daughter of well known figure in Syrian regime, who denied her and was raped afterward.
After she was released, Leen decided to leave Damascus and the whole country, and went to Istanbul, where she suffered of another kind of difficulties and hard life.
She lives now in a shared accommodation with other Syrian girls, but she prefers not to talk to anyone and does not feel the interest in life.
She worked in many jobs which had not crossed her mind before that she would do them when she was with her father, like working in a tailor workshop, then a waitress in Syrian and Turkish restaurants, where she was exploited because of her young age and her need for money. Now she is looking for a new job respects her needs and circumstances.
Zaman Al Wasl- Istanbul
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