Muhammad Hussein Bakir

My name is Muhammad Hussein Bakir “Abu Rami.” I was born in 1942, from Tirat al-Carmel. We were displaced to Aleppo in 1948, like many Palestinians who settledin Syria. It was my first experience with asylum. I studied even under ourdifficult circumstances and took a baccalaureate in Aleppo. I came to Britainin 1962 and studied civil engineering. In 1972 I travelled to Kuwait and workedthere as a civil engineer in a British company and as a consultant. I gotmarried in 1975 and God had blessed us with six daughters. One of them died inthe nineties.

Afterthe Gulf war, we returned to Aleppo in 1990, and I worked there at the thermalpower station in Aleppo and then at the military housing in Aleppo for tenyears. My wife passed away in 2002, and I found myself in my current situation.I must stand with my daughters and raise them by myself, and my life wasdedicated to them.

In2015, we had to leave Aleppo because of the bad conditions, and we went toTurkey and from there by sea to Greece and travelled a distance between walkingand trains to Sweden. I was 73 years old at the time, and I became a refugeefor the second time in my life. My girls are spread out, two of them are withme in Sweden, two Germany and one in Jordan.

InSweden, my daily life is with my daughters and my friends here in the mosque. Iwalk around the city and spend a lot of time with my grandchild, receivingguests and bidding farewell. Praise be to god, things are good and comfortablebecause my daughters are beside me.

Iwish I could return one day to Aleppo, even just to visit, if I had a Swedishpassport. I wish I could visit Tirat al-Carmel. Even when we want to dream, wesee our childhood.

‍