The Story of Miray: One of Many Refugees in Greece

Meet 34-year-old Miray Ozmen, one of many refugees in Greece today. After learning that there was a warrant out for her arrest, Miray fled her hometown in Turkey in the middle of the night. Her husband, a highly respected doctor, had been imprisoned a few months before, leaving Miray and her eight-year-old and ten-year-old daughters alone.

Miray and her daughters traveled for days on foot to the Meric River, sleeping in farms along the way. They had only a backpack, the clothes on their backs, and the very little money Miray’s husband left for them.

Miray’s plan—get to Greece. Get to freedom. But once she and her daughters met the Meric River, another problem greeted them—no way to cross. Luckily, smugglers were in the area and granted them passage overnight—for a fee. And apparently, that fee was everything Miray had left.

Still, she agreed—she had to get herself and her daughters to freedom, after all! So they all boarded the boat, their entire bodies feeling like lumbering masses of burnt rubber after all that traveling.

But the danger was far from over. What if a log penetrated the boat, or what if it capsized? Such things had happened many times before, drowning loads of refugees. So, during the incredibly nerve-wracking trip across the Meric, Miray clung to her daughters, enveloping both of them with both her arms, holding them as close as she could to her own extremely weary body.

“It’s going to be okay,” she kept whispering to them as the boat bucked and bobbed amid the pitch-black night. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”

But she couldn’t know that for sure. In fact, it hardly even seemed possible. She and her daughters were going to a brand-new country, after all. They were leaving their friends and family, where they were born—all of which they might never see again—with practically nothing. Even if they made it across the river, where were they going to stay, and how would they survive, much less build a future? How were they even going to communicate with the Greek citizens, and how would the Greek citizens treat them?

Finally, and thankfully, the boat safely made the trip across the Meric, and the smugglers dropped Miray and her daughters off on Greece’s sandy shore. They staggered straight to the Greek police, who promptly shuttled them to an overpopulated refugee camp.

How Embrace Relief Helped Miray and Her Children

Miray and her children are just a few among thousands of refugees in Greece. In fact, the number of refugees in Greece is approximately 5,500, all of whom arrived by land or sea since the beginning of 2021. And, as more migration occurs, there is a greater need for efforts to grant refugees access to rights and opportunities in order to avoid isolation and protect their human rights. Thankfully, Embrace Relief recognizes that refugees provide an opportunity for cultural diversity and economic growth in Greece. Therefore, we embrace refugees like Miray and her children by providing them with the following:

• Emergency Housing—With emergency housing, they’re no longer forced to stay in overpopulated refugee camps, which are especially unsafe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our support also includes food, water, clothing, and access to pro-bono lawyers and translators who assist refugees with asylum paperwork, searching for a permanent home, and placing their children into schools.
• Rent Assistance—Upon finding a permanent home, we continue to aid refugee families with up to $500 in rent assistance. So far, we have assisted 280 families.
• English-Learning Courses—We systematically pair refugees with volunteer native English speakers who meet once a week via video call. They learn how to speak English, allowing them to excel in school, find new jobs, and make new friends in their new countries. To date, we’ve enrolled nearly 300 refugees in English courses.     
•  Adopt a Refugee Family—This program personally matches people in the United States with a refugee family in Greece, providing refugees with invaluable emotional and psychological support. Providing a sense that someone cares about them and their family has helped refugee families in the program survive and succeed. We currently have 110 families who have been symbolically adopted.
• First Bricks Program—Millions of refugee children worldwide are often years behind the education level they should be at for their age. This is because they often miss months—if not years—of school. After all, they often hide with their parents to avoid conflict in their countries and endure prolonged periods of isolation in refugee camps. Therefore, the First Bricks online education program helps children of refugees learn math, science, languages, among other important subjects, and connect with other children their age—all for free.     
•      For children of refugees, the emotional and psychological burden of migrating to an unfamiliar country is undeniable. Under this state of duress, gestures of kindness and thoughtfulness often have a profound impact. Therefore, in the last two years, we’ve provided gift bags for over 3,000 children of refugees.

How YOU Can Help Refugees Fleeing to Greece

Please donate today or volunteer for refugees in Greece to help us provide them not only a significant cushion to fall on during tough times, but the means to integrate themselves into their new, unfamiliar country. Thanks to the efficient system we have in place, refugees have the tools to positively impact their new communities. And YOU can make it part of your Year-End Resolutions to be a part of this meaningful evolution!

About Our Year-End Resolutions

A take on New Year’s Resolutions, our Year-End Resolutions is something you can do—right here, right now—that has an impact before the year is officially over. For example, contributing to one of Embrace Relief’s many humanitarian causes (check them all out here). And the best thing is—by doing so, you’ll officially make 2021 a great year. Not just for yourself, but for people like Miray and her daughters who need support but have nowhere and no one to turn to, because together, we provide resources needed to save and change lives. Happy Year-End!