Such a fate

Yasmin fled to Russia from Syria to save her children from the war. But it turned out that in a new place it is still necessary to fight - even for being relied by law

Spring is on the street, and Yasmin is wrapped in a black sheepskin coat: but neither she, nor a long dark skirt, nor a scarf hide her unusual beauty - only emphasize her. The enveloping velvet gaze of large dark eyes, open and at the same time shy smile - Yasmin is like the heroines of ancient engravings from Arab fairy tales, and all our meeting I constantly pull myself: "Through a person to stare at a person."

It is all the more surprising to see her in Noginsk near Moscow: there is an integration center where the children of Yasmin - the daughter of Fatima and the son of Yahya - learn the Russian language. Yasmin himself admits that I also tried to learn a new language, but it turned out to be too difficult, so I hear its story twice - from it and from the translator.

Another life

Yasmin was born in Aleppo - the largest, ancient and flowering city of Syria. The very one, whose ruins are regularly shown in the news. In a large friendly family. I studied at school. She graduated from eight classes. Parents did not mind the daughter studied further. But she liked the house more. At 18, she married Mohammed.

Yahya, son of Yasmin, in the integration center of "Civil Assistance" in Noginsk Photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

Now she is 34. They have three children: Ahmada 14, Fatima 12, Yahya 11. And another baby is about to be born: Yasmin always wanted a large family in which he had grown. A lot of children, relatives, a delicious table. The war mixed all the cards. The whole large family of Yasmin was the war in the world. Parents live in Lebanon, brothers with families in Germany. Yasmin with children for the seventh year in Russia. Their house in Aleppo - where Yasmin and Mohammed were happy, where their children were born - destroyed, and with him - all hopes and plans.

There is nowhere to return. Yasmin shrugs and says simply: "Such a fate."

Run away from the war

The war came to Aleppo in 2012. At first, the city thought that it was not for long - local armed clashes, but soon everyone would agree and life would return to the usual direction.

But the battles continued. The children were afraid of the sounds of shooting and explosions - woke up and cried: the youngest, Yahya, barely turned three. They decided that Yasmin and the children would wait for a dangerous moment in Lebanon: they were sure that they were leaving for no more than a month, they didn’t even take things. By this time, Mohammed worked in Russia for several years: in the Noginsk near Moscow, some textile and sewing enterprises belong to Syrian entrepreneurs, and they willingly hire compatriots. Mohammed - a tailor, and when a cousin called him to work in Russia, he agreed: the conditions were good. But he regularly visited his family and sent money. When it became clear that the fighting in Syria and around Aleppo did not stop, Mohammed decided to pick up his family to himself.

Yasmin photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

The Yasmin family, like many other Syrian refugees, at first provided a temporary asylum: the status allowed to work legally and receive free medical care. But then the status was not extended, besides, the duration of the Syrian passports ended - you can get a new one, but it is very expensive, each passport costs 20 thousand rubles, Yasmin explains. Without a passport, they will not accept the application for asylum, but now the family does not have such money: prices have risen, and Mohammed’s salaries, which used to have enough housing and for normal life, is now not enough. Therefore, when their eldest son, Ahmad, found out that another baby would appear in the family soon, he also went to the factory - to help his father.

Yasmin worries that her older boy had to grow up ahead of time: instead of games and lessons, Ahmad works in a factory.

Bureaucratic incident

Judging by the noise from the classroom, children have a change. And a dark -haired boy immediately flies to us - this is the youngest son Yasmin, Yahya. He greets Russian, and then something whispers to his mother in Arabic. In response, she affectionately flutters him on the head, takes out a little money from his wallet - and Yahya, smiling pretty, leaves the room. You can hear how the boys waited behind the door of the watga run up the stairs - in a stall with ice cream.

Children Yasmin could get comfortable in a year - if they were accepted into ordinary secondary schools photo: from a personal archive

“I left Syria for the sake of children. It turns out that we saved them from the war, but deprived of the school and normal for their age. I really want the children to study. ”

The children of Yasmin, who came to Russia very small, could speak Russian freely and get comfortable for a year - if they were accepted into ordinary secondary schools.

The right to educate any child in the territory of the Russian Federation is guaranteed by the 43rd article of the Constitution. But due to the contradictions between the basic law and individual orders of the ministry, this is not always possible. So, there is an order of the Ministry of Education and Science No. 32 of 2014 “On the Rules for admission to educational institutions”, which states that foreigners should additionally present a document confirming the applicant's right to stay in the country.

For Ahmad, Fatima, Yahya and other children of refugees and migrants, the Committee “Civil Assistance” has been fighting for many years for many years. In 2015, the Committee appealed the order of the ministry in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Then the court explained that the absence of documents confirming the parent’s right to stay in the Russian Federation, and registration with the child cannot be the basis for refusing to admit to school, if there are free places - but in practice the principals of schools refer to the order of the ministry and say that they are not able to help.

Yahya, son of Yasmin, in the integration center of "Civil assistance" photo: Anna Ivansova for TD

Three years ago, the Committee opened in Noginsk an integration center for children of Syrian refugees to prepare them for training in Russian schools, but in fact it is almost the only opportunity for them to get at least some basic knowledge. Here, children study mathematics surrounding the world, Russian and Arabic. Once Yasmin, like other refugees, learned about the center and the committee thanks to the mouth of the radio, from her compatriots-as a place where they could help.

But the center can not do without our support - money is needed to rent premises, a head teacher’s salary and two teachers. We cannot influence school principals, but in our power to support the work of the integration center. So that Yahya, Fatima and other children, torn by the war from their native country, had the opportunity to study and communicate. It is very important to help children integrate into the life of the country that has become their second home - and any monthly donation, even if very small, will help to achieve this.