There is a time when all you have to do is wait for your beard to grow so long that you forget what you’ve been waiting for. During this long waiting and forgetting period you remember that love and friendship are the most important substances of life. During 6 long years Lavan has fought for his right to be granted asylum in Europe after fleeing his birth land Iran. The day he was granted a legal stay has arrived at the beginning of 2022 when the high court of Slovenia ruled in his favour.
Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Where is home for you?
For me home is a place that I belong to. This means for me a place where I am accepted and respected. Home is a place where I have people who love me and I love these people, I love being with them and around them. Borders do not matter for me when I am thinking about my home. You can be born anywhere in this world but where you feel alive and where you have a happy life, where you feel happiness, this is what I call home. This is what I got here in Slovenia in the last seven years and I didn't get in my motherland.
How did these years of fighting against the government before getting the status change you. How do you see yourself different now?
You say it in Slovenia: What does not kill you makes you stronger. So you can be challenged in life by many things. For me it was this procedure to obtain asylum status. I had to fight and wait for a long time. I decided to take this opportunity to work on myself, to work on my personality. Not everybody does that but for me it worked. It was not easy, it was not a God blessing, it was actually horrible. They kept me waiting for six years and kept playing with my life because by the law they have the right to do it. I started working, communicating with people, meeting new people. You can not just sit in the refugee camp and suffer. You are already suffering by waiting for a decision from the government. So what you can do is help yourself. The people who sit in the offices do not care what is happening to you. What kind of emotional issues you have, what kind of psychological challenges you go through. They really don't care, even if they want to care. But they really do not want. So I started looking inside myself. What is missing in me, my life, my character, my personality. So I found new people, opportunity, jobs, way of life, chances to solve issues in my life. It was super hard but beside that it was also a great opportunity to build my personal life in a way that I wanted. So Slovenia became my home. I have people in my life now. They became my family. You Gregor are one of these people. I know you for all this time.
Lavan in his asylum room in March 2022
Tell me two things which you see in your life that are beautiful.
The changes I made in my personality. The man who I am now, the grown-up man who I am now. The progress I made in my personality is so beautiful. It is me, a different person, a grown-up man with a lot of patience. I love myself more than before. The other thing is people who I have in my life. They are really beautiful. They're really amazing. When I was struggling in life, I always had hope. It was always a battle with the government procedure, and they were kind of backup for me, supporting me and protecting me.
Can you make some names?
You.(and starts laughing). Boris, Barbara, Rok. There are other people I love who were supporting me.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In Slovenia. I have never thought about this seriously. Maybe I will work with animals in a shelter. I love animals. I have a dog. Maybe working with people who need help like refugees or migrants.
What do you think about the photos?
There was something really important in that photo shooting for me in those two hours. I have never had the chance to show emotions in a so small-time period. There was sadness, happiness, anger you were helping me to pull my emotions out to the surface. You were not pushing me. It was a nice experience. I pulled out from myself different emotions in two hours: anger, happiness, sadness, joy. They were in me in the past six years but in the photo shooting they came all out at the same time. Thank you for doing this.
The pleasure was mine. Last question. What would you say to all the people in the world if they could hear your voice right now?
Love yourself. By loving yourselves you can make the world a better place to live.
