Navid’s Story: A Real-Life Account of His Journey from Iran

I suppose my dad was lucky. Members of my mom’s family were executed because they were Kurdish.

After my dad left, the officials kept coming back to our house. They would ask my mom where he had gone. We decided we had to leave too.

I remember everyone was really sad the night we left Iran.

At first, I didn’t understand why they were sad. But when I got to the airport, I realized I was leaving my country for good. I was upset for almost the whole journey.

We flew to Italy. From there we traveled mainly on foot. We had to jump over a high wire fence. It was really scary.

We walked through a forest at night and were stopped by police. The sound of the police dog barking was terrifying.

I remember staying in a cottage one night. I think it was in Slovenia, but I’m not sure.