Parwana Amiri — The Girl Who Writes
“Refugee stories are happening without us”
“I didn’t know that in Europe people are divided into those who have a passport and those who don’t. I didn’t know that I would be treated as a “refugee”, an undocumented person, without human rights. We fled difficult living conditions while here we are told that we are a threat to the local population.”
Writes Parwana Amiri, a writer, activist and refugee, just 17 years old. In her debut novel, “My pen will not break, but the borders will one day”, she recounts testimonies from the Moria refugee centre on the Greek island of Lesbos, which has become a symbol of segregation migration policies, a repository of rejected souls and a systematic dehumanisation project of “Mother Europe”, as Parwana calls it.
Dressed in soft, bright colours, the Afghan possesses a determination, clarity and uprightness that few teenage girls possess. In excellent self-taught Greek and precise English, she speaks loudly and confidently about the society and world she would like to live in.
“I want security. I want to live in a world where children do not starve and women do not suffer violence. Where we will all be equal, in a world without borders. I want a world where there are neither rich nor poor. I dream that one day we will all be united and live in peace,” she writes.
Parwana Amiri is a heroine, a fighter, a humble girl with strong ideas and perfectly articulated thoughts. She moves from written and spoken words to action: she organised (and still organises) a series of protests in refugee centres, she communicates with the authorities to improve the living conditions of refugees, she writes and speaks tirelessly.
She has high expectations towards humanity: she believes in honesty, humanity and kindness. When she realises that the world around her is not such, she gives people a second chance.
“The local community cannot understand us because they have no chance to get to know us. We live far away from them in isolated refugee centres,” she says, looking for excuses.
Being around Parwani Amiri is a journey into youth, but one that does not possess even a hint of the self-orientiation and narcissism of the “selfie generation”. All her online activities are focused on a single mission: Parwana believes that society can be changed and the world can be improved. She discusses about this on Facebook and Twitter, in her texts and discussions. A committed contemporary researcher!
Reading Parwana Amiri gives an exclusive insight into the freezing refugee tents, which strain the lungs of many, only to be moved to makeshift health clinics, where they wait for hours for “a spoonful of syrup and a couple of antibiotics”; about the long queues for “a litre of milk and a plate of unpalatable beans”, and the much-talked-about arrogance of bureaucratic apparatuses already described. We find intimate stories of a girl who, in a deeply sexist society, feels threatened but also angry: “I can’t play volleyball! I can’t walk where I want! If I look back, they believe that I am seducing them. I’ve had enough of you! Why do I have to cover my hair with a headscarf? We are not their prey! Resist, girls!” We come across an elderly woman who, with a trembling hand, kneads dough every day in order to sell bread to earn money for her husband’s medicine. And a boy born in a woman’s body, subjected to discrimination, contempt and the social pressures of a stuborn Muslim tradition. Now he is searching for himself on a Greek island forgotten in the confusion of a refugee tragedy.
Parwana’s characters do not tell another refugee story, they are the story themselves.
“Allow us to speak on what we feel and what we are thinking about,” says Parwana. “Give us a voice,” she urges.
After four months in the forgotten Lesvos, Parwana now lives with her family in Ritsona, another refugee centre 70km from Athens. Together with her two sisters and her mother, she shares a room where she writes, thinks and creates.
“When I write, I escape into my own world. I curl up and isolate myself from others,” she explains.
Reading Parwana Amiri makes us reflect on our own existence. When she talks about her impressions while delving into Angela Davis’ texts, and about her visions of social order, human rights and inequality, we are inspired with optimism. She is extremely self-critical, she understands victims, but she does not victimise herself; she seeks solutions and is change-oriented.
Parwana is passionate about history, the sea and freedom, she is intelligent, empathetic and incredibly active — a refugee Greta Thunberg! If we were guided by the ideas of such young and ambitious teenagers, we would have nothing to fear about.
We met her in Chania, the second largest island of Crete, Greece, where she was visiting to launch her book, published by the local publishing house Akivernites polities and translated into English, German and French. We spoke to her the following day, when Parwana was taking part in the protests.
- Today you visited the protests here in Hania. What are your impressions of the demonstrations?
The students were protesting together with the workers. The ministry wants to privatise the public education system and the two groups came together. It was the first time I saw students protesting. I believe that if we want fundamental social change, we must have young people on the streets. But today, in addition to that, we saw all generations, representatives of all members of the family.
- Why do you think it is important for young people to protest?
Article was originally published in Slovenian.
