Palestinian teens evacuated to Athens struggle with physical injuries and trauma, navigating a difficult adjustment with limited state support.
ATHENS: Raghad al-Fara, 15, navigates her new life in Athens on crutches, her body bearing the scars of the war in Gaza.
Evacuated with her mother and younger sister in February, she now lives in a shelter for refugee women after surviving an Israeli bombing in Khan Younis in July 2024.
“I never thought I would survive, let alone set foot on European soil,” the teenager told AFP.
Her right leg and back were crushed under rubble, leaving her on a respirator for two months and bedridden for seven.
Raghad is one of 10 Gazan minors in Greece with complex orthopaedic and psychological injuries, according to migration ministry official Heracles Moskoff.
She receives orthopaedic and physiotherapy care but waited months for a support belt, with her mother sourcing orthopedic shoes independently.
“Greece took responsibility for us but then abandoned us,” said Raghad’s mother, Shadia al-Fara, who notes the state provides no financial assistance.
She says her daughter has received no psychological support despite bedwetting for months due to severe trauma.
In total, 26 Palestinians arrived in Athens at the end of February, as confirmed by the Greek foreign ministry.
Sara Al-Sweirki, 20, who arrived in September, is determined to build a future beyond survival.
“I want to be a girl my age like others, learn guitar and piano, and study,” she stressed.
Accepted by the private Deree American College of Greece, she will begin psychology studies in January to help others overcome trauma.
The rest of Raghad’s family, including her father and three other siblings, remain in Gaza.
“When we learned that Greece agreed to host us, it was a relief,” said Shadia al-Fara.
Palestinian official Latif Darwesh claims there is “no political will” from Greece’s conservative government to host more injured Gazans.
“The current government has forgotten its historic friendship with the Palestinian people,” Darwesh said.
This contrasts with the 1980s, when many Palestinian students found refuge under the socialist administration of Andreas Papandreou.
Israeli tactics since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack have heightened solidarity with Palestinians among the Greek public.
A recent study shows 74% of Greeks would support their government recognising a Palestinian state, a move it has yet to make.
Shadia al-Fara has enrolled her daughters in Greek school but fears for her children still in Gaza.
“We cannot return to live under tents with the fear of bombings resuming!” she said.
She feels “powerless” to help her three other children, who ask to be extracted from “this hell.”
Sara Al-Sweirki acknowledges that “the future in Gaza remains very uncertain” and does not know if she will stay in Athens forever.
She says her dream was interrupted after October 7 but she is now more determined than ever to pursue her studies.
A truce that began on October 10 does not mean reconstruction, leaving evacuees in a prolonged state of limbo.
