Mohammed's Journey (Refugee Diary)

Mohammed was born on 20 August 1994 in Kirkuk - the Kurdish part of Iraq. He speaks Kurdish, and now English too.

Saddam Hussein persecuted Mohammed's people long before he was born but Mohammed's journey started in October 2000 when Saddam's soldiers came to his house, beat him and his mother and took his father away. Mohammed never saw his father again.

This is his story. From that terrible night, to the escape from Iraq by bus, on horseback, in a small boat on a raging river and finally, hiding in a lorry on a ship. It covers his journey from Kirkuk to the Iraq-Iran border, through Iran, into Turkey and then on to England and safety.

Mohammed and his mother we were granted 'leave to stay' in England in 2002.