By\u00a0Linas Jegelevi\u010dius.<\/p>\n
From a distance, the three teenagers blend in almost perfectly with a crowd of students at a Catholic high school in the Lithuanian capital. Their very dark hair sets them apart from many of their classmates, but the strongest clue to their newcomer status is how they use gestures as much as words to communicate with their new classmates.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is a month into the school year, and the three \u2013 brothers Mark and Milad, and their cousin Klodya \u2013 know they need to learn the language of their new country. They have known much harder things in their lives during the past 12 years.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore leaving early in the morning for work, I\u2019d kiss my boys, unsure if I would make it back home. The militiamen were rampaging all around, so my boys could not attend school. Women, especially, could not feel safe and had to wear hijabs to conceal their faces. My wife would stay home most of the time,\u201d recalls Mark and Milad\u2019s father, Dawood Bnyamin Kani.<\/p>\n In search of a safer life, he quit a well-paid job as a manager of a construction site in Baghdad, and in 2006 moved the family to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan in the north. Leaving Erbil early last summer, they went to the Turkish capital, Ankara, where they obtained visas for travel to Lithuania. When they and members of two other Chaldean Catholic families from Iraq, 15 people in all, finally reached Lithuania in July, the local Catholic Church welcomed them. The newcomers received residence and work permits in early November and are now waiting for their asylum applications to be processed.<\/p>\n Bnyamin Kani, his wife Sanaa Ablahad Elia, and their sons Mark, 14, and Milad, 17, are now in their fifth month in Lithuania.<\/p>\n \u201cI had never heard of Lithuania,\u201d the father confesses before adding, \u201cIt\u2019s good to be in Europe. It means safety.\u201d<\/p>\n Not Their First Choice<\/strong><\/p>\n Lithuania is far from making most asylum seekers\u2019 wish-list. Here, as in most other recent European Union members, politicians have tried to wriggle out of the EU\u2019s mandatory migrant relocation project, and in some cases indicated they were ready only to accept Christian refugees.<\/p>\n When the relocation scheme passed by majority vote, Lithuania was obligated to accept 1,105 asylum seekers over the next three years. The decision caught the population and many local authorities off-guard.<\/p>\n Only a few of the country\u2019s 60 municipalities agreed to accommodate migrants from overcrowded Italian and Greek reception centers, with the rest expressing concerns over security, assimilation, and the effect of an influx of Muslims.<\/p>\n \u201cThey’ll have to rape me before I’ll agree to take in those, as you call them, refugees. I do not intend to accept any of them,\u201d Valdemaras Valki\u016bnas, mayor of Bir\u017eai, told Lithuanian media in September.<\/p>\n Flicking through Lithuanian websites can give the impression that cyberspace teems with such comments.<\/p>\n \u201cThe unwillingness to accept refugees shows the weakness of Lithuanian leaders to take unpopular decisions,\u201d political analyst K\u0119stutis Girnius said. \u201cTheir biggest fear is of angering that part of the society which is against migrants.\u201d Last year, Lithuania granted asylum to just 177 applicants and rejected 106 requests, according to the Interior Ministry.<\/p>\n How One Family Made a Difference<\/strong><\/p>\n But remarkably, Bnyamin Kani\u2019s family is already shattering those fears \u2013 both in the local community and at school.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, they are like a refugee poster family \u2013 very nice, courteous, and intelligent,\u201d said Violeta Ali\u0161auskien\u0117, the principal of Versm\u0117s Secondary School. \u201cQuite a stark contrast to what we tend to see on the TV screen. These kids even help our teachers to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n Lithuanian teachers have been talking for years about acquiring new cultural competencies, but now they are picking them up on the go through daily contact with students with different cultural backgrounds, customs, and languages.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the children here is certainly a challenge because it forces us out of our comfort zone, but it prompts us to grow,\u201d Ali\u0161auskien\u0117 said.<\/p>\n Pupils of as many as eight nationalities attend the school, which also accommodates 107 special-needs children with disabilities.<\/p>\n Adapting to their new school is a challenge for seventh-grader Mark, eighth-grader Klodya, and 10th-grader Milad.<\/p>\n In the first year, they are taking preparatory classes in Lithuanian language and culture. The teenagers can expect transfers to regular classes the following year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m confident they can make it. They are smart kids,\u201d Ali\u0161auskien\u0117 said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe children are talented, motivated, and spirited,\u201d agreed Ernesta Smalinsk\u0117, their Lithuanian teacher, saying she was confident they will know soon the language well enough to start taking regular classes in some less language-intensive subjects.<\/p>\n When the teacher introduces the Lithuanian word \u201cpara,\u201d meaning \u201ca day,\u201d the trio erupt in laughter.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s an easy one! It means \u2018money\u2019 in Arabic,\u201d they spring up, shouting. \u201cI love the experience,\u201d Smalinsk\u0117 says. While the youngsters are immersed in the new language, their parents attend a Lithuanian language course provided by the Catholic charity Caritas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe language is very hard. The kids are much better learners than we are,\u201d Bnyamin Kani grins as his wife nods approvingly at his side. The family lives in a house provided by Caritas, which also covers all the utility costs and local travel expenses, and allots 40 euros per person for food weekly.<\/p>\n He and his wife recently attended a parents\u2019 meeting at the school, where they sat near the front and quizzed the school administration about its teaching facilities and curriculum.<\/p>\n \u201cThey left an impression of being a very intelligent, inquisitive, polite and child-loving couple,\u201d the principal said.<\/p>\n She is especially impressed by the three youngsters\u2019 politeness.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter our teachers come into class, the brothers immediately jump to their feet out of respect. Lithuanian children just don\u2019t do that anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what I have always taught my sons \u2013 respect,\u201d Bnyamin Kani says.<\/p>\n Cultural Contrasts<\/strong><\/p>\n Differences in behavior and social mores appeared as soon as the three teenagers began school. Teachers say it took them some time to realize the importance of doing homework, for instance.<\/p>\n Then there is the question of how to behave around the opposite sex.<\/p>\n The brothers, who attended an all-boys school in Iraq, still shyly look away when boys and girls give each other friendly hugs when they meet.<\/p>\n \u201cIf my sons decide ever to marry Lithuanian girls, we are fine. But now they are kind of aloof \u2013 both, especially the youngest, do not approach girls first. That\u2019s what they teach in Iraqi schools,\u201d their father says.<\/p>\n The length of 15-year-old Klodya\u2019s skirt was also up for discussion. Her parents seemed very sensitive about the uniforms some girls at the school choose to wear, with skirts stopping just above the knees.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly, we thought it would be much longer than other girls\u2019 skirts, but we were wrong. Klodya showed up on 1 September in a skirt above the knees. They are very adaptive,\u201d Ali\u0161auskien\u0117 said.<\/p>\n \u201cI like my new friends here, the teachers and school. Unlike the boys, I find Lithuanian easy,\u201d Klodya says, smiling.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely want to stay in Lithuania, but I am missing my other sisters and the rest of my family, who remain in Iraq. I want to hope they are safe there,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n Asked how she feels about going to school with both girls and boys, she says quietly, \u201cFor me, it is not an issue any more.\u201d<\/p>\n Klodya\u2019s father died suddenly in October. She plans to stay in Lithuania with her mother, brother, and sister, Alisauskiene said.<\/p>\n Mark, meanwhile, is making plans to meet some of his friends after school. \u201cThis is going to be fun,\u201d he says confidently.<\/p>\n Milad, the oldest, insists he loves it here. \u201cI don\u2019t miss anything in Iraq. We were not safe there, and we are safe here. That\u2019s what matters most to me.\u201d<\/p>\n The new arrivals seemed to enjoy the spotlight cast by local media last summer, but the media attention worries the school principal.<\/p>\n \u201cAt school, we are striving to make sure they live normal, ordinary lives. They have to learn now, not find themselves on the covers of magazines,\u201d Ali\u0161auskien\u0117 said.<\/p>\n In God\u2019s Hands<\/strong><\/p>\n Bnyamin Kani, an engineer by profession, said he would seek a managerial job in the construction industry once his work permit was approved.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the will of God and with the help of the Church it will happen soon,\u201d he says. He received his permit shortly after giving this interview.<\/p>\n The Iraqi immigrants belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church, many of whose faithful have been displaced by years of fighting in Iraq and Syria, the church\u2019s traditional centers. About 10,000 Chaldean Catholic families originally from less secure parts of Iraq have been welcomed in his diocese, Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil has said.<\/p>\n Lithuania\u2019s Roman Catholic authorities worked with the Erbil archbishopric to arrange the Christians families\u2019 journeys to Lithuania. Church authorities, however, have temporarily shelved a plan to sponsor more Christian families.<\/p>\n \u201cIf not for the Church, we would not be able to support ourselves. They are helping us move to a new apartment closer to the school,\u201d Bnyamin Kani says.<\/p>\n He says he would like to see more Iraqi refugees come to Lithuania.<\/p>\n \u201cSo far, we haven\u2019t met any other Iraqis in Vilnius, only a Kurdish man. In Scandinavia, it is common to see Iraqis and Syrians living in the same neighborhoods, mingling and marrying each other. Religion is not an issue there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Asked if he would ever want to bring his family back to their homeland should peace return, he says, \u201cIt\u2019s too early to think of that. It may depend on my sons: If they learn Lithuanian and enter local universities, I don\u2019t think it would make sense to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n A couple of years ago, Lithuania\u2019s Lutheran Church brought over 39 refugees from Syria, but by now all of them have left for Western Europe, mostly Germany.<\/p>\n Ilma Var\u017einskait\u0117 of Caritas said the Iraqis are a different story.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Syrians did not submit requests for asylum, but the Iraqis have already filed applications. Integration is a two-way street. So with cooperation from both sides, it may pan out, and then the chance that the asylum seekers will leave Lithuania is minimal,\u201d Var\u017einskait\u0117 said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe like Lithuania,\u201d Mark and Milad\u2019s father says. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing feeling to rest our heads on the pillow at night knowing that no one will blow us up.\u201d<\/p>\n Linas Jegelevi\u010dius is a freelance journalist in Klaip\u0117da, Lithuania.<\/p>\n reprinted with permission from Transitions www.tol.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By\u00a0Linas Jegelevi\u010dius. From a distance, the three teenagers blend in almost perfectly with a crowd of students at a Catholic high school in the Lithuanian capital. Their very dark hair sets them apart from many of their classmates, but the strongest clue to their newcomer status is how they use gestures as much as words …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[79,99],"class_list":["post-1680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-politics","tag-draugas-news","tag-jegelevicius-l"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Escape From Baghdad<\/h4>\n
\nSqueezed between two military conflicts, Erbil had somehow managed to escape the miseries of the communal violence in Iraq and deadly advance of Islamic State. But when this \u201cuntouchable\u201d city started to succumb, Bnyamin Kani, 47, quickly Lithuania: Image Breakers made up his mind to get his family out.<\/p>\n