The Riveting Story of Yousif Alneamy: Mosul’s First Technology Entrepreneur
By: Zahra Shah
Tags: Refugees, ISIS, Netherlands, Mosul, Startup

“Mosul was captured by ISIS in 2014 and the one thing I would often submerge myself in was the internet. It was my free zone where I learned programming whilst also helping my father with his business.

In 2015, the internet was cut off and our days were spent just waiting for liberation. I was young and I felt like my time was being wasted. I graduated at the top of my class from Mosul University and I studied really hard for it. There had to be a bigger purpose than just waiting for ISIS to leave. If I stayed in Mosul and ISIS ended up staying here for 10 years, I would not be the same person and I didn’t want that to happen.”

Fleeing Iraqi civilians walk past the heavily damaged al-Nuri mosque as Iraqi forces continue their advance against Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. As Iraqi forces continued to advance on the last few hundred square kilometers of Mosul held by the Islamic State group, the country’s Prime Minister said Tuesday the gains show Iraqis reject terrorism. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

“Once I decided, it took me 6 months to leave Mosul. it was very difficult to find someone trustworthy that will get you out. I couldn’t even tell my family about my plans because it was a dangerous trip and they would have feared for my safety.”

Escaping Mosul

“When I found a reliable smuggler, I borrowed money from my family and left in September 2015. An old phone, money and the clothing on my back was all I had as we drove to Syria. It helped to cover myself in dirt so that I wouldn’t arouse suspicion whilst going through ISIS checkpoints. I was dropped off at a gas station where another smuggler picked me up and took me to Raqqa. I stayed the night in a village house that was full of other people seeking refuge. There were many Iraqis there and I heard a lot of stories. In particular, one couple was with their eight-month-old daughter and it had taken them 40 days to get here from Mosul. It only took me one day.

That night we slept on the roof of the house with at least 25 other people. We were up at 6am to make our way to the Turkish border. This was the most difficult side to enter Turkey from and it was a scary drive. The smugglers would sell us to other smugglers en route since we were perceived as rich Iraqis. They constantly needed payment every time we were sold and at this rate, I wasn’t going to have any money left by the time I got to Europe. It was dark so I managed to avoid paying by hiding behind trees and then reuniting with the group once the smugglers left. From 8pm we started walking through the hills and we finally entered Turkey at 4am.”

Arrival to Turkey

“Upon entering Turkey, a Syrian man with a shotgun approached us and asked us to pay to take us to the bus station. An Iraqi would pay $150 and a Syrian would pay 7000 Syrian lira (around $5 at the time). I pretended to be Syrian and mixed with their group so that I could save money, but they caught me. I only had $100 notes and I didn’t want to risk them seeing my money, so I told them I was going to Turkey for work and pretended I was poor. My dirty clothes helped with this story and I ended up just paying $50. The money was borrowed from a friend to pay back once I had change. When I got to the bus station, that’s when I called my family and sent them a selfie of me in Turkey.

I bought some clothes and went to Gaziantep to spend the night. Since leaving Mosul, I was in a different country each day and I hadn’t slept properly. I spent a total of 11 days in Turkey and it was difficult. One time I was about to get in a boat from Didim to Greece, but the police came and busted us. We were 200 people waiting for boats but the smugglers only brought one and then left us with it to avoid capture. I had paid the smuggler $1200 but I got my money back.”

The Boat to Greece

“From that failed boat attempt, I befriended an Iraqi and went with him to Istanbul. It was now October and we were lucky to have found another boat. The smugglers checked if it would rain before we traveled, but I told him to just put me on the boat regardless. I didn’t care if it would rain or snow. It felt like the trip would never happen if I didn’t go now and I just wanted to get into Greece. There were around 50 of us in the boat. We pumped the boat before getting on it, which gave us some energy for the long journey ahead.”

Image from Middle East Monitor. Refugees travel on a boat to greece. 2017.

“When we got into the sea, I was really happy because I finally made it. I took off my shirt so I was ready if we needed to swim; I didn’t want anything to weigh me down. The girls on the boat were asking me to help them if anything happened, but I made it clear that I would prioritise the small children. We all had life jackets but they would only last for 2–3 hours in the water. The tide was towards Greece so I was hopeful. It took us 6 hours to reach there.”

“The sea was less scary than ISIS”

Read more about Yousif’s story on our blog.

Originally published at https://iraqtech.io on September 7, 2019.