This article is by Abdelkander, an UN-aligned member from Algeria who is on the UN-aligned English Language Programme. He is currently living and working in Turkey.
Immigration and survival
My name is Abdelkader, though I am also known as Faysal. I am from Algeria and I am 37-years-old. Like most young people, I want to have a decent life. Of course, I have dreams, but my main dream is simple: I just want an honest job. In my country, however, whether you studied or did not finish your studies, the matter will not be different, because in either case you will not get a job unless you have mediation, or you pay a bribe.
The right to survive
I am one of those people who believes that it is my right to be able to provide for my survival. If you cannot secure this in your own country, then surely it is not wrong to look elsewhere. Is it fair to trap youth within the borders of their country of birth and stop them from seeking to fulfil their potential and, most importantly, their actual survival?
Do you think that this is fair? Some people take travel and employment for granted, but for many of us the situation is not that simple.
My anxieties suddenly led to a deterioration of my health. I went for a check-up and the analysis revealed that I had developed diabetes. As my conditions got worse, I was not in a position to pay for my treatment.
The cost of the medication was prohibitive and I as a result my strength collapsed. All I needed was sufficient doses of insulin, but of course I could not afford that without a job.
At the mercy of changing laws
I did everything I could in order for the situation to improve, but nothing changed, and in the end, I decided to emigrate to another country. I picked Turkey as it was possible for me to obtain a two-year visa that permitted me to live and work there.
My first year in Turkey was good. I had a stable job, no serious worries and I had the means to acquire my medication. Naturally, my health improved. However, laws change and often they do so without due consideration of the dire consequences that result from these changes.
Here, you go to sleep and when you wake up, there will be a new law. When I went to renew my visa, which should have been a simple formality, I was told that the situation had changed and that I was no longer entitled to the extension.
Now my residency is irregular and I will be forced to leave this country imminently. Moreover, I am not alone. I know other youths from my country who are in a very similar position to mine. I really do not know what to do. Now I realised that it is not easy for one to live as a human in this world. I just wish I could understand why young people, who do their best, have to suffer so much; especially those who live in poor and oppressed countries.
The struggle continues…
I have not stopped dreaming and I have not closed the window of hope. I am struggling to live, whatever it costs me. Maybe the coming days will be bad, but I have no choice other than to persevere. No one wants to leave his country unless life conditions compel him to do so. This is what happened to me.
Perhaps few will care about what I said, but it is just one example of the struggles real people have when trying to live in their own, or other countries. We try to feel that we are human beings like others. We try to feel the air and enjoy the water. We try to live above the ground and not under it.
There is a poem that says help someone and then ask him to help two others… Kindness is contagious and this attitude could help improve the conditions of so many young people in the world and make them feel that they belong.
Finally, listen to us with your hearts and look at us with your minds.
