Award-Winning Photographer Follows 3 Wounded Refugees On Their Odyssey To Europe

"One day, they hope to return to their country.”
Maro Kouri documented the journey of the wounded Syrians from the Greek island of Lesbos to Berlin.
Maro Kouri documented the journey of the wounded Syrians from the Greek island of Lesbos to Berlin.
Maro Kouri

Asem Hasna, a 21-year-old Syrian student from Qatana, near Damascus, left his studies to volunteer in hospitals to help war victims in his country. When a bomb hit his ambulance, several children lost their lives and Hasna was so badly injured his leg had to be amputated.

He traveled to neighboring Jordan for medical treatment, where he met two other Syrians being treated for war injuries -- 23-year-old Ahmad Orab, who lost his sight after being shot by a sniper, and 28-year-old Deeb Alkhateeb, who was also hit by sniper fire and is partially paralyzed.

Last year, the three Syrians set off to Europe, along with a 28-year-old Syrian friend named Moaead Arafa, who was helping escort Orab, as well as the family of Hasna's aunt and uncle.

Douaa Lala, 17, a friend of Asem's cousin who traveled with the group, plays football in the German village of Passau after crossing the Austria-Germany border.
Douaa Lala, 17, a friend of Asem's cousin who traveled with the group, plays football in the German village of Passau after crossing the Austria-Germany border.
Maro Kouri

Award-winning Greek photographer Maro Kouri heard about the group’s perilous journey through a mutual friend, and decided to document their odyssey. Once they reached the Greek island of Lesbos on a flimsy smuggler boat from Turkey, she accompanied them through the Balkans all the way to the German capital of Berlin.

The most challenging part of the journey was crossing the Serbian-Croatian border, Kouri said. “It felt like we had arrived in the middle of nowhere ... There were no tents, no infrastructure, nothing,” she said. “But there was a great number of volunteers who had come from around the world saying, ‘I want to help,’ and they handed out raincoats, tea and dry clothes.”

Asem Hasna at a camp for newly arrived migrants and refugees in Germany.
Asem Hasna at a camp for newly arrived migrants and refugees in Germany.
Maro Kouri

Traveling with the refugees gave Kouri the opportunity to share their hopes and dreams, she said. “Everyone kept saying how they just wanted to turn their life around,” she said. “These are people who were in a war just a few days ago. Now they want to work and live. And one day, they hope to return to their country.”

Kouri’s photographs will be shown at an exhibition called “The Journey of the Refugee: From the Aegean Sea to Berlin -- Following Asem” at the Athens School of Fine Arts until Jan. 10.

This story was first published in HuffPost Greece and has been translated and adapted for an international audience.

(L-R) Asem Hasna, Moaead Arafa, Deeb Alkhateeb and Ahmad Orab.
(L-R) Asem Hasna, Moaead Arafa, Deeb Alkhateeb and Ahmad Orab.
Maro Kouri
Asem Hasna at the small Serbian town of Sid near the Serbian-Croatian border.
Asem Hasna at the small Serbian town of Sid near the Serbian-Croatian border.
Maro Kouri
Asem's uncle's family pictured in Sid, at the Serbian-Croatian border.
Asem's uncle's family pictured in Sid, at the Serbian-Croatian border.
Maro Kouri
Photographer Maro Kouri at the beach on Lesbos.
Photographer Maro Kouri at the beach on Lesbos.
Courtesy of Maro Kouri
A child on the shores of Lesbos.
A child on the shores of Lesbos.
Maro Kouri
On the shores of Lesbos.
On the shores of Lesbos.
Maro Kouri
Refugees arriving on Lesbos.
Refugees arriving on Lesbos.
Maro Kouri
Refugee boats reach Lesbos.
Refugee boats reach Lesbos.
Maro Kouri
The Moria camp for newly arrived refugees and migrants on Lesbos.
The Moria camp for newly arrived refugees and migrants on Lesbos.
Maro Kouri
The Moria camp on Lesbos.
The Moria camp on Lesbos.
Maro Kouri

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