Thomas James Parrish

The Baobab Experience, Rome

“We were born in May 2015 after the eviction of Ponte Mammolo [train station turned refugee camp]. There’s no founder, it was born spontaneously. There were more volunteers at the beginning, now there’s less, 40 exactly. Since then we have been cleared 18 times. Mainly we provide mainly food and tents, sometimes we have lawyers and doctors to come too.“

Perla - Baobab Volunteer

Catania, Sicily

“The coastguard brings them here after they are picked up or rescued, if not here then nearby on Lampedusa before they’re brought to the mainland. Within a week or so there will be more. Another boat. Many refuse to give their fingerprints in Italy as they have dreams of Germany or Scandinavia, avoiding the system they can easily end up on the street.”

Lucia -Borderline Sicila

Milan

Dozens of refugees are stood over by police conducting ‘routine’ checks.

Iqbal – Afghanistan

“After my last exam for military school, I saw a lot of people were around my house and I thought maybe this is a party, and my father wants to surprise me. But when I went inside it was really a surprise because my father had died. He was killed in my village.

I started a job with the CNPA – The Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan, to help my mother providing me and my 3 sisters. I start a job at the north gate of Kabul. This gate connects Kabul with all the northern provinces, the drugs come from south and go to north. Many times, people tried to bribe me, but I never accept this because my father was a proud man and I wanted to follow this way.

One day my little sister when she was going to school they give a letter to her and say ‘give this to your brother.’

“Today we didn’t do anything, but we can do something tomorrow, if you don’t let us pass.”

I change my sister’s school and continued my job - I was not afraid.

After 1 week I am going to work and I see 2 people on a motorcycle behind my car. I saw in the mirror they take out a Kalashnikov and they start firing. I hear the bullets touch the car. I put my head down and I break as they cross me. I was very afraid. In the pillow of the chair of my car there was a bullet. It means if I don’t put my head down, maybe today I was not here and I was not talking to you. That’s why I left the army, I left my job and I left my country.”

Photographed at K-Pax Social Cooperative, Breno

Refugees are taught to write in Italian and English by volunteers in Rome.

Hassain – Palestine / Libya

Story by Mahmoud

“My father was responsible for the military hospital – he was the head nurse there. So all wounded in the hospital come from the military. The military is against isis and the terrorists – but for us, we are helping everyone. He was a nurse so he was helping everyone in the hospital.

In 2013, the terrorists came to the hospital, because there was a lot of wounded, important people from the military there, so those terrorists they enter to the hospital, they were shooting everywhere. They were killing everyone around, and he got wounded in his neck because they tried to kill him. We don’t know until now how it was (the weapon), he saw like a little clip when he turned, it was the knife of the Kalashnikov.

He doesn’t remember he went to Tunisia for the operation. For one month he could not eat and drink and when he came back to Libya he was 40kg. When we saw him we thought – this is not my father, my brother fell to the ground crying. After this we saw our names on the list of ISIS – so they wanted to kill us, because we are helping the people [in the hospital] so he said ‘We can’t live anymore in this country.’

We left in September 2015.”

Gio - Gambia

“As the boat was going down, they were trying to make contact with the coastguard on the walkie talkie, but they are not speaking English, and the coastguard is needing them to be speaking English, so they ask if anyone on the boat is speaking English. English is my language, so I say give it to me.

‘You’ve got to help us man we are sinking, people they are getting wet there is too much water in the boat.’

‘How many people are in the boat?’

‘How many? I don’t know how many, maybe 80 maybe 100, maybe more there are many people here brother please you’ve got to help us, we are sinking, these people they cannot swim,’

‘We are on our way we know where you are, we will be there in 10 minutes.’

And so, in maybe 10 minutes they arrived, and we are rescued, it was a very emotional at that time. You are happy to be saved, but scared to be in these people’s hands, you hear stories about what can happen if you arrive.

Once everyone is on the boat and they give you the shiny blanket to keep you warm they start trying to learn who the captain is, who is the driver. But of course nobody knows who is the driver, we the passengers don’t even know. They say things like ‘if you tell us who drove you, you will be safe, you will have food, you will have this and that,’ but people don’t know who it is, you are not concerned about other people while you are on this boat, only for yourself, your family. So, they start asking who was talking on the walkie-talkie, who was it that we spoke with? And then some people say it was me. So I say yeah it was me I can speak English, we needed help so I can talk with you and ask for help - I am the only one who can communicate with you.

Maybe they need to blame somebody, to make somebody responsible or hold somebody accountable, but that is when they take me away, and I spent the next 2 years and a half years in prison in Sicily, for being the one who tried to communicate with them.”

Doreen - Kenya

“I wanted to be a doctor, but unfortunately as you can see, I cannot now, it's not possible...but I wish. Life has been full of challenges and ups and downs so now I really don't know. I would like to help people, but now I have no control, I can only take things as they come.

Let’s just say it was some kind of violence why I left Kenya"

At the Camp

Every morning, tents are dismantled at the make-shift camp set up by volunteer program Baobab Experience that act as a home to dozens of refugees in central Rome.

Baobab

The Baobab Experience camp has been moved on by police 9 times in a year.

Cooking Classes

Refugees that are lucky enough to get registered with a volunteer program or an NGO like K-Pax in Breno, can receive classes such as cooking to help them integrate into their new life, and develop skills. Here they are taught to make ravioli by a local chef.

Red Cross Camp

Migrants are seen with a red cross worker at a refugee camp in Bologna, pushing a skip bin. Camps managed by organisations like the red cross are completely full and lack funding, causing many people to remain on the streets until a place opens.

Khaled

“I left my home, my family and my girlfriend in Syria a few years ago. I was in the army. Many of my comrades were killed. So I come here to find a normal life. I need a normal life. I am here for life, I am not here for joking. I don’t have a need for a perfect life, just a normal life. Normal job, Normal home, My girlfriend with me. I want to read books and watch movies. Right now I cannot do like this.”

Camping Out

Many refugees take to the forest to sleep. This spot in Ostuni, Northern Italy, is known to residents as a bank that can often be seen with tents and rubbish before police will eventually clear it.

Meal Time

Refugees line up for a meal provided by volunteers in Rome

Mahmoud

“I arrived in Italy on December 1st, 2016, so only a few months now. I don’t know if it is better or not yet. I am looking for a future, for a new life.

It’s very bad in Syria you know, I can’t stay there anymore. It’s bad what happened in Syria. Our house was destroyed, and they took my father to prison. I don’t know why - he didn’t do anything. After 10 days he was released and he explained we have to leave, it’s not safe, he has to go to Lebanon. So we moved to Lebanon, I learned English there, life is normal. My family was there, my father was working. But now the situation in Lebanon is not like before. People in Lebanon, they didn’t like Syrians. Not all of Lebanese but many of them, they didn’t like Syrians, and that is my reason to come here. I live in Lebanon for 4 years, working 13 hours a day for $100 to save to come here.

I came to Italy through humanitarian corridors, not by the sea. Of course I have hope, I want to be an engineer. But we will see.”

Photographed near Venice

Back to School

Volunteers from Ospitti in Arrivo conduct language classes for refugees in Ostuni.

Passing Time

Men play soccer to pass the time as they wait for responses on their commission to learn if they will be accepted as legal refugees in Rome.

Kaiz

From Afghanistan, photographed in Northern Italy after his English lesson, opted not to share his story for fear of reliving it.

Bedding

Piles of blankets and sleeping bags donated by volunteers

Past Life

Sammy shares an image of him as a fireman in Nigeria.

Scribbles

Zubaida from Afghanistan scribbles and doodles with pen and paper as she shares her story on why she left her home, and the threats she faced as a woman.

The Bronx

A carpark in Ostuni is locally known as The Bronx, where dozens of migrants sleep on the concrete every night. They rely on volunteer groups who deliver them food and blankets.

Wounded

To go with his gunshot wound through his arm and belly, and his scar on his throat, Hassain was also stabbed through the bicep for treating members of the military in a hospital in Libya.

A Waiting Game

Being a refugee means a lot of waiting, as those being looked after by Baobab experience for months.

Unknown

Photographed at K-Pax Social, Breno, Northern Italy. K-pax provides courses in Italian language and cooking as a part of its community integration schemes for refugees in the north of Italy.

Checking In

Police perform a drive by at one of the known make-shift camps in Rome while boys play soccer by their tents.

Smoker

A refugee smokes a cigarette in Rome

Cathedral

A cathedral in Sicily offers respite for many of the Christian refugees from Nigeria.