By Peter Randewij, a WJI Europe 2023 alumnus from Switzerland
The man sat on the park bench talking loudly on his phone, as if he were competing with the street musicians down the road. His grey woolen jacket seemed out of place in the August sunshine. His name was Dieudonné. He used to live in Brussels, but recently moved to Flanders, and he had come from Niger to flee from Islamic terrorism.
The jihadist insurgency in Niger started in 2015. Islamic State groups crossed the border from neighboring Mali. The Niger government tried to counter the terrorist threat with western help, and Niamey, the capital, was stabilized. But the Northwest desert regions, where Dieudonné is from, remained a hotbed of Islamic terrorism.
In 2017 suicide attacks intensified. Jihadists were putting suicide-vests on 12 years olds. It was in this time Dieudonné’s parents died in a terrorist attack. In the chaos he lost track of the rest of his family. Where should he go? He could not live in a place where children had become walking timebombs. He decided to leave for Europe.
Dieudonné arrived in Belgium in 2018, but his asylum request was rejected. The Belgian government did not consider Niger to be a dangerous nation. Niamey, the capital was safe. Dieudonné should go there. “Why didn’t he?” the authorities asked.
In Niamey, he told them, everyone from his region was considered a terrorist. There was no way he could live there.
He decided to stay in Brussels. He even lived on the street for a while. Now his fate was worse than in Niger. At least he had a home there. Crime became an option. But he resisted. Better to die than to live, he thought.
Dieudonne’s psychological problems are no surprise. A 2018 German report highlights psychosocial problems in refugees coming from war zones, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), are common. The report mentions percentages as high as 33% of PTSD in the general refugee population. These problems cause the person to have difficulty with even the regular routines of normal life. If left untreated, the condition can become chronic, keeping the person in a negative vicious circle.
This year, Niger was classified as a nation at risk by the Belgian government. Dieudonné was able to receive asylum status. Things started to look up. He got married, and found a place to live with his wife.
His residency status allows him to work. But finding work is still not easy. He recently applied at the baggage handling company at the airport, but the day he would start, the company withdrew the offer. They didn’t want people on refugee status, they told Dieudonné.
Dieudonné’s phone rings again. It is time to leave. “I have been uprooted. I want to put roots down somewhere else, but it’s hard.” His voice is drowned out by the street musicians.
