In Photos: UNHCR High Profile Supporter Ben Stiller meets refugee families in Berlin
In Photos: UNHCR High Profile Supporter Ben Stiller meets refugee families in Berlin
In early 2016, Ben took time out of his schedule to visit refugee families during a trip to Berlin. He visited an emergency shelter run by the NGO Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) in the Berlin district of Wilmersdorf as part of a briefing by UNHCR. He discussed the situation in Germany, across Europe and the wider Syrian crisis. The families he met, who had left their homes with just the bags they could carry, were some of the million-plus people who have been forced to flee conflict and persecution and had sought safety in Europe in 2015.
Ben meets Syrian refugees Nahed and Hassan. After a long journey across Europe, their family have found sanctuary in Germany. They are learning German, determined to learn the skills they need to integrate and find work locally.
© UNHCR/Jordi Matas
Nahed guided Ben and his wife Christine around the centre which includes store rooms with clothes, shoes and other provisions donated by the public, medical and counseling facilities, and classrooms where refugees and asylum seekers can learn German.
© UNHCR/Jordi Matas
Dalal, another young mother at the centre, described to Ben how she had made the perilous journey from Iraq to Europe just one month after giving birth to twin girls, Zahara and Zeina. Their home city of Mosul became too dangerous when it fell to ISIS and they felt they had no option but to leave for the sake of their children.
© UNHCR/Jordi Matas
Ben meets Nadia and Ahmed, and their 11 year old son Moustafa. They had clung on to life in Aleppo for as long as they could, but with the bombings becoming more frequent and Moustafa unable to attend school for two years, they eventually moved to Turkey. Poverty meant Moustafa had to work, and traveling to Europe seemed their only way to get him back into school.
© UNHCR/Jordi Matas
For Nadia and Ahmed, the safety, well-being and future of their son is all that matters. Despite living in a cramped room, they are happy that Moustafa has made new friends, and most importantly is learning German in preparation for joining a local school where his education will begin again.
© UNHCR/Jordi Matas
During the visit Ben met Nahed, her husband Hassan and two children Mohamed (8) and Mayyar (5). They told Ben of their previous "beautiful" life in Aleppo, Syria. Nahed ran a hairdressing salon, and Ahmed a jewellery store. But war destroyed their livelihoods, their home, and their hopes for their children, and they were forced to leave everything to find safety.
© UNHCR/Jordi Matas