From the Website of CNN NEWS
links: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/15/world/aleppo-escape-activists-turkey/index.html
Journey to safety was more terrifying than Aleppo, activists say
Gaziantep, Turkey (CNN)When
Mojahed left his native Aleppo he thought the worst was over. What
could be more terrible than living in the besieged Syrian city people
called hell on earth?
But the
24-year-old activist, now living across the border in Turkey, says his
harrowing journey out of the country was more terrifying than all the
years of war.
"Inside
Syria, before we thought about fleeing I came close to death many
times. Several times we were shelled directly, and it happened once that
I was five meters away from an explosion," Mojahed said. "But the
moment we crossed into Turkey, this was the worst moment ever."
That
moment came as smugglers held him and a few other helpless families
captive, huddled in an abandoned building on a bitterly cold night.
Outside, heavy rains poured down as animals howled near the carcasses of
burnt-out vehicles. Mojahed was petrified.
"We kept wondering, 'Where are we?'" he said.
"In
this moment we only thought of the worst options. They could hand us
over to the (Syrian) regime, they could kill us, they could sell our
organs, they could traffic us. The last thing we thought could happen is
that we would cross to Turkey safely."
Wielding a camera as a weapon
In
a way, Mojahed's journey began in 2012 when he and his best friend
Thaer decided to leave their families in western Aleppo for the eastern
side of the city. (CNN is not publishing their last names out of concern
for their safety.)
Opposition groups then fighting to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad had just captured the area.
Moving
to the other side of the conflict meant they could not cross back to
see their loved ones again, but they felt it was worth the sacrifice.
The
two young men were passionate, fearless and talented. The footage they
shot and the stories they told were broadcast by dozens of media outlets
all over the world.
"I believe we
exposed ourselves to these dangers so we can show the world the
suffering in our country," Thaer said. "And we did. The news spread to
everyone and all our videos were shown and we covered everything from
the beginning of the peaceful movement all the way to our leaving
Aleppo."
Every day their work took
them from one tragedy to the next: a family crushed by an airstrike, a
child killed by shrapnel, a hospital bombed by warplanes.
Rescue workers search for victims amid the rubble of a destroyed building following air strikes in Aleppo on October 17, 2016.
But for Thaer, it's actually a tale of survival that haunts him the most.
"This
girl was trapped under rubble. There was no way for her to breathe but
we heard a distant sound inside all the rubble," he recalled.
"I
began obsessively following her rescue and filming every moment. When
we reached this girl and I saw she was alive and screaming 'Mom!' and
'Dad!,' I started to cry."
Late
last year the rebel enclave was recaptured by government troops after a
siege and months of Russian bombardment eroded what little was left of
eastern Aleppo's once-bustling commercial hub.
Tens
of thousand of people, including Thaer and Mojahed, were forced to
evacuate their homes under a ceasefire agreement reached by Moscow and
Ankara.
"I wanted to stay longer
but we couldn't. I tried to be the very last person to leave and I did
leave on the last bus just so I can stay a little longer in my city."
Mojahed said with a sad smile.
Mojahed
and Thaer were certain that with just a camera and a pen they could
save their city from bombs and rockets. But they could not. And even
now, they are shocked that the world watched Aleppo die and stood
silent.
"When I saw this bus, like
any besieged person I felt disappointment because the international
community was able to perform a miracle. But this miracle was a crime,"
Mojahed said. "The miracle was saving 300,000 people from death. But the
crime was forcing them out of their homes."
A final goodbye?
On
December 22, as Mojahed left Aleppo, he filmed a final farewell video.
It was snowing heavily and his hair and clothes were covered in flakes
as he spoke directly to the camera.
"My
feelings as I leave Aleppo are like preparing for a burial after death.
I will leave Aleppo without a soul. My soul will stay here in Aleppo.
Because Aleppo is my life," Mojahed said in the clip.
After
their emotional departure, the two friends went to see their families
for the first time in nearly four years. Thaer didn't recognize his
younger brother, who had grown from a boy to a teenager.
The
reunion was short lived. After only a couple of days, Thaer and Mojahed
had to leave again, this time for the safety of Turkey. As activists,
they felt they could not stay in government-controlled territory.
Mojahed got emotional when recalling saying goodbye to his mother.
Mojahed told his mother this was his final goodbye -- not just to his family, but to the country he loves.
"I
told her this may be the last time I see you. We are leaving and you
are staying behind," he said, tearing up at the memory. Thaer put his
arm around his friend.
The two men
had only each other for what came next. They decided to pay traffickers
to smuggle them out of Syria and into Turkey illegally. They say they
had no other choice but to get out quickly and discreetly.
A terrifying journey
But the trip across the border was a traumatic one.
"We
kept walking for hours through this jungle. We walked in the dark and
cold," Thaer said. "What pained me the most were the women and children
that were with us. Their situation was very, very, very difficult. We
felt we were going to die of the cold, so you can imagine the children
that were just a few months old. I thought they would die any second."
As
they approached the border, the smugglers turned on the group of
Syrians and demanded more money. They demanded each person give hundreds
of dollars on top of the fees they had already paid.
"They
forced one family that refused to give them money out of the car into
this abandoned area," Mojahed said, "We don't know ... what happened to
them. There were men, a woman and two boys and one young child and they
all disappeared."
The Syrian government starts to clean up areas formerly held by opposition forces in Aleppo on December 27, 2016.
After they reached Turkey, Thaer and Mojahed fled from their captors. But the smugglers sent messages taunting them.
"When
we entered Antakya the smugglers started messaging Mojahed and
threatening him and saying, 'You think that you have escaped, no we will
still get you. And the whole Turkish mafia will work just to get you,
and you are playing a game that is too big for you,'" Thaer said.
The
two friends are now settled in a plain, quiet apartment in the Turkish
city of Gaziantep, some 75 miles north of Aleppo. Sometimes they worry
they are being followed and say they never allow taxis to drop them
outside their building out of fear of revealing their location.
Nearly every night they dream of Aleppo, and they spend their waking hours obsessively checking their phones for news on Syria.
"Even
now I have a feeling I will return, and I want to return, but when I
think of returning I wonder if it will it help," Thaer said. "I will
offer my life in exchange for what? If I die a martyr like others, will
anyone care?"
CNN Website
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