Long road to a new life: Asylum-seeker from Somalia makes home in Germany
Warda Abdi, 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, lives in Bad Belzig, Germany. Her odyssey began in 2010, when at 17 she left Somalia, lived in Ethiopia for a year, braved the dangerous crossing into Sudan, trekked through a desert, was jailed for illegal immigration in Libya, was released and spent three nights with 83 other migrants on an inflatable boat in the Mediterranean Sea before being picked up by a ship and brought to Sicily. Today she lives in uncertainty, waiting for the invitation for an interview that will be the next part of her asylum application, yet worried that she will be sent back to Italy since that was where she was first fingerprinted and registered. Germany expects to register over one million asylum applicants this year and is struggling to accommodate all the newcomers.
Warda Abdi, 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, puts on her headscarf in the small room she shares with another woman before setting out from the asylum-seekers' shelter where she lives in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Warda Abdi (R), 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, and her roommate and fellow asylum-seeker Asili, who Warda calls Big Mama, pose for a photo in the small room they share at the asylum-seekers' shelter where they live in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Warda Abdi (L), 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, and her friends and fellow-asylum seekers Asha (C), from Somalia, and Biti, from Eritrea, leave a grocery store after shopping in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
"It makes me feel better," says Warda Abdi, 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, as she writes in her journal and recounts her expriences in the small room she shares with another woman at the asylum-seekers' shelter where she lives in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Warda Abdi (standing), 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, looks at a YouTube video with her friend and fellow-Somali asylum applicant Asha at the "Der Winkel" cafe where many local asylum applicants go for Internet access and company in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
"Sometimes I like to be alone," says Warda Abdi, 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, as she walks in the forest along her favourite path near the asylum-seekers' shelter where she lives in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Warda Abdi, 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, buys a pack of cigarettes in the town center in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Warda Abdi (C), 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, chats with her friend Magda, a local high school student active with the town's migrants, outside the "Der Winkel" cafe where many local asylum applicants go for Internet access and company in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Warda Abdi (R), 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, gets German language tutoring from her friend Magda, a local high school student active with the town's migrants, in the historic city center in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Warda Abdi (C), 23, an asylum-seeker from Somalia, her roommate Asili (L), who Warda calls Big Mama and is also from Somalia, and their friend Biti from Eritrea prepare dinner in the small kitchen the two Somali women share with two others at the asylum-seekers' shelter where they live in Bad Belzig, Germany.Sean Gallup/Getty Images