According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a hundred Belgians are present in Iran. So in recent days, with the climbing of the conflict in the Middle East, some have made the decision to leave the country and return to Belgium. This is the case of Ali, Belgo-Iranian who was blocked in Tehran, but who finally managed to return by avoiding the bombs.
This Tuesday, Ali made a video in which he explained: “Unfortunately, I have been blocked here in Iran for about five days, since there has been war. This Belgian-Iranian told our journalists RTL the difficulty of getting out of Iran. We met him five days later, in Belgium.
From point A to point B
“I had to get to a point A at point B. And point B is Belgium. I had to get there. And I got there, ”says Ali. The latter walked Belgian soil after a four -long journey trip through Iran and Turkey, by taxi, by bus, and on foot. “I woke up one day at 7 am, and I myself had to leave. And at noon, I was gone, ”says Ali.
This journey to Belgium began with a taxi taken below his home. He then rolled to the north of Tehran. During these four days between petrol rationing and bribes, Ali advanced above all with the fear of being taken for a spy, especially by a taxi driver. When in doubt, Ali then pretended to be a pressing need to escape: “I took my suitcase and I actually ran. I ran, I went to the woods. I walked enormously, a lot. I was a migrant. We see the images on TV, we do not imagine. »»
After two and a half days of travel, Ali arrived at the border with Turkey. Every day, hundreds of Iranians and foreigners are desperately trying to cross it. “There, you had to pay sides on the left, right. This is the Middle East, so everything is done with sides, ”explains the Belgo-Iranian. The most difficult step was to find a bus to cross Turkey.
An endless trip
Problem: “Buses for Istanbul have been complete for three days. I caught the driver’s hand, I dismissed her a little, and I told him listening, I give you whatever you want, take me with you. To which he replied that he could not because there was no more room. ” Ali says that he finally gave him the sum of 100 euros to convince him.
“I spent 26 hours on this bus, with buses that are not even made for long journeys. It’s like Stib buses in Belgium. Imagine sitting in this kind of bus for 26 hours, ”insists Ali.
On the way, I saw missiles pass over my head. Fear was there all the time.
The trip ends in plane to Brussels. Ali considers himself lucky because many others have neither the means nor the possibility of fleeing the war in Iran. It is already the second for him. He explains: “The bombings, you hear them from morning to evening, from evening to morning. It doesn’t stop. On the way, I saw missiles pass over my head. Fear was there all the time. But it was not the same fear as when I was a child, it was another. ”
Despite this trip and fear, Ali swore to return to Iran as soon as the situation allows.
