Samos. Flickr/ Olle Svensson. Some rights reserved.Last Saturday on a warm early spring day on Samos it was a delight to meet Mamoud whilst he was cutting up broccoli and potatoes ready for the evening meal which was being prepared at the Open Border kitchen at the top side of the Camp. Mamoud, a graduate in English has traveled with five friends from Sialkot which is a Punjabi city close to the Indian border.
He thought we might have heard of Sialkot as it is the place where over half of the world’s footballs are made. But this was news to us. A quick google search revealed that Sialkot is considered to be one of the more successful and peaceful cities in Pakistan. A large manufacturing base, plenty of jobs and a developed infrastructure including an international airport. This is where Mamoud and his friends lived and from where they left to make an expensive and hazardous journey through Iran and Turkey before the risky night time boat ride to Samos. He arrived 5 days ago after 20 days traveling.
“Corruption” was his spontaneous response to our question as to why he and so many left their homes. He continued by detailing the ways in which everything in his city favoured a wealthy minority leaving the majority to suffer. So he said there were no teachers in their schools and colleges, no doctors in the public hospitals; there was an international airport but this was private and only for business use. Wages were minimal and often not paid in full.
