ALÌ

“I lived a good chunk of my life as an asylum seeker in France. But after 10 years they refused to renew my permit and issued me a deportation paper.”
But Alì cannot return to his homeland, partly because his homeland is not recognised.
He is a Turkish Kurd, and if he returned to Diyarbakır, his hometown, he would stand a serious chance of being imprisoned, if not worse.
“In Turkey I did 12 years in prison, and when I was released, they found a pretext to throw me back in a cell. So I escaped.”
Ali also had to flee France, where, after 10 years, he hoped to build a future for himself. “I’m in Italy but because of the Dublin Treaty.
I cannot ask for asylum directly here. I have appealed and I hope they understand that if they send me back to Turkey, that’s the end for me.”