Golden ticket to life

Norway.

Beautiful Norway, with sweeping fjords, tall mountains and deep valleys. Our country with world-class education, the welfare state and a safe everyday life. That is the reality for the vast majority of us. This is not the case for everyone. Not everyone was born with a golden ticket to life.

I am on the Greek island of Lesvos. A vacation paradise with typical Greek architecture, delicious food and salty Mediterranean water. But the island has a darker side, it is also home to thousands of refugees. This is their first encounter with Europe.

Europe.

The world of possibilities for many people. They see opportunities, a fresh start, and a mobilization towards a new and safer future. Here, hundreds of boat refugees arrive every day from Turkey in overcrowded boats, without life jackets, and even sometimes in life jackets that doesn't float, but on the contrary drag you down to the bottom if you are unlucky enough to fall in. This is one of many things smugglers do to the vulnerable people who pay them large amounts of money to transport them across the sea. There are daily accidents and lost lives. I have walked along the beach here on Lesvos and seen more boats than I can count on the shore, new and old, torn into pieces by the sea and the wind.

Destinies, torn into pieces by sea and wind. Dreams and lives torn into pieces, only because they didn't draw the golden ticket to life like I did.