A man whose brother was murdered by ISIS, a woman whose husband died in the harrowing sea journey, a child who cried out "kill me instead!" when she saw her mother being crushed by a throng of people struggling to board a boat: These are the emotional stories of refugees in Europe that were captured this week in a poignant photo series. Humans of New York has made a name for itself documenting the stories and photographs of random people living in the Big Apple. But on Friday, Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the project, announced a shift in focus. "For the next several days, I’m going to be sharing stories from refugees who are currently making their way across Europe," Stanton wrote on Facebook and Instagram. "Additionally, I’ll be spotlighting some of the people who are attempting to help facilitate their immigration and asylum." "Together, these migrants are part of one of the largest population movements in modern history," he added. "But their stories are composed of unique and singular tragedies." > For the next several days, I’m going to be sharing stories from > refugees who are currently making their way across Europe. > Additionally, I’ll be spotlighting some of the people who are > attempting to help facilitate their immigration and asylum. > Together, these migrants are part of one of the largest population > movements in modern history. But their stories are composed of > unique and singular tragedies. In the midst of the current > ‘migrant crisis,’ there are millions of different reasons for > leaving home. And there are millions of different hardships that > refugees face as they search for a new home. Since the situation is > constantly shifting, I'm still not sure of all my destinations. But > over the next ten days or so, I hope to share as many of these > stories as I can find. > > A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Sep 25, 2015 > at 9:23am PDT Stanton shared several tales of refugees who traveled many dangerous miles to arrive in Europe. One was the story of Muhammad, a Syrian man the photographer met in Iraq last year. In a series of six photographs, Stanton shared Muhammad’s retelling of his last few months, the struggles he faced trying to raise enough money to buy fake papers, his father’s beating at the hands of police and his brother’s murder by ISIS. "My brother had been killed by ISIS while he was working in an oil field," Muhammad is quoted as saying. "They found our address on his ID card, and they sent his head to our house, with a message: 'Kurdish people aren’t Muslims.' My youngest sister found my brother’s head. This was one year ago. She has not spoken a single word since." > “Before leaving for Europe, I went back to Syria to see my family > once more. I slept in my uncle’s barn the entire time I was there, > because every day the police were knocking on my father’s door. > Eventually my father told me: ‘If you stay any longer, they will > find you and they will kill you.’ So I contacted a smuggler and > made my way to Istanbul. I was just about to leave for Europe when I > received a call from my sister. She told me that my father had been > very badly beaten by police, and unless I sent 5,000 Euro for an > operation, he would die. That was my money to get to Europe. But > what could I do? I had no choice. Then two weeks later she called > with even worse news. My brother had been killed by ISIS while he > was working in an oil field. They found our address on his ID card, > and they sent his head to our house, with a message: ‘Kurdish > people aren’t Muslims.’ My youngest sister found my brother’s > head. This was one year ago. She has not spoken a single word > since.” (Kos, Greece) (2/6) > > A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Sep 26, 2015 > at 1:54pm PDT “For two weeks my tears didn’t stop. Nothing made sense. Why did these things happen to my family? We did everything right. Everything. We were very honest with everyone. We treated our neighbors well. We made no big mistakes. I was under so much pressure at this time. My father w > ded in Turkey. My father recovered from his operation at this time. > He called me and asked how I’d paid for his surgery. I told him > that the money came from a friend. He asked if I had made it to > Europe. For the first time ever, I lied to my father. I didn’t > want him to feel guilty about his surgery. I told him that I was in > Europe, and I was safe, and there was nothing to worry about.” > (Kos, Greece) (3/6) > > A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Sep 26, 2015 > at 2:30pm PDT > > Muhammad currently lives in Austria, where he was recently granted > citizenship. His life in Europe, however, hasn’t been without its > challenges. position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"> “The island we landed on was called Samothrace. We were so thankful to be there. We thought we’d reached safety. We began to walk toward the police station to register as refugees. We even asked a man on the side of the road to call the police for us. I told the other refugees to let me speak for them, since I spoke English. Suddenly two police jeeps came speeding toward us and slammed on the brakes. They acted like we were murderers and they’d been searching for us. They pointed guns at us and screamed: ‘Hands up!’ I told them: ‘Please, we just escaped the war, we are not criminals!’ They said: ‘Shut up, Malaka!’ I will never forget this word: ‘Malaka, Malaka, Malaka.’ It was all they called us. They threw us into prison. Our clothes were wet and we could not stop shivering. We could not sleep. I can still feel this cold in my bones. For three days we had no food or water. I told the police: ‘We don’t need food, but please give us water.’ I begged the commander to let us drink. Again, he said: ‘Shut up, Malaka!’ I will remember this man’s face for the rest of my life. He had a gap in his teeth so he spit on us when he spoke. He chose to watch seven people suffer from thirst for three days while they begged him for water. We were saved when they finally they put us on a boat and sent us to a camp on the mainland. For twelve days we stayed there before walking north. We walked for three weeks. I ate nothing but leaves. Like an animal. We drank from dirty rivers. My legs grew so swollen that I had to take off my shoes. When we reached the border, an Albanian policeman found us and asked if we were refugees. When > . He told me: ‘Do not be ashamed. I have also lived through a war. > You are now my family and this is your house too.’” (Kos, > Greece) (5/6) > > A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Sep 27, 2015 > at 12:56pm PDT > > On Monday, Stanton shared the story of a woman whose husband died > after their boat sank en route to Europe. > > He also posted a photograph showing a father and daughter in Lesvos, > Greece. > > “My husband and I sold everything we had to afford the journey. > We worked 15 hours a day in Turkey until we had enough money to > leave. The smuggler put 152 of us on a boat. Once we saw the boat, > many of us wanted to go back, but he told us that anyone who turned > back would not get a refund. We had no choice. Both the lower > compartment and the deck were filled with people. Waves began to > come into the boat so the captain told everyone to throw their > baggage into the sea. In the ocean we hit a rock, but the captain > told us not to worry. Water began to come into the boat, but again > he told us not to worry. We were in the lower compartment and it > began to fill with water. It was too tight to move. Everyone began > to scream. We were the last ones to get out alive. My husband pulled > me out of the window. In the ocean, he took off his life jacket and > gave it to a woman. We swam for as long as possible. After several > hours he told me he that he was too tired to swim and that he was > going to float on his back and rest. It was so dark we could not > see. The waves were high. I could hear him calling me but he got > further and further away. Eventually a boat found me. They never > found my husband.” (Kos, Greece) color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Sep 28, 2015 at 2:16pm PDT “I wish I could have done more for her. Her life has been nothing but struggle. She hasn’t known many happy moments. She never had a chance to taste childhood. When we were getting on the plastic boat, I heard her say something that broke my heart. She saw her mother being crushed by the crowd, and she screamed: 'Please don't kill my mother! Kill me instead!'" (Lesvos, Greece) > iv> > > The HONY photo project offers just a glimpse into the lives of > migrants who are seeking refuge in Europe. According to the U.N. > Refugee Agency, more than 160,000 migrants have arrived in Greece > this year. > > _For more on this photo series, check out HONY’s Instagram and > Facebook pages._ > > > > _ALSO ON HUFFPOST: _ > > -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington > Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal > consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. 6552282/u/420/f/677102/c/35496/s/4a3f9ee0/sc/38/ach.img" border="0"/> >
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