Lucky Strike

A fake passport and a blonde refugee in Sweden

Photo Credit: Burak Sayin

I was walking home from Delphi at night, a bit tipsy, in need of a cigarette. There were two guys walking towards me, one dark haired, one blonde. I asked for a cigarette, the blonde offered me one. We started to chitchat and they asked me where I was from. When I said Turkey, the dark haired one said that he loves Istanbul. I commented saying yeah it’s a great city but it’s been chaotic recently with so many refugees, without knowing they were from Syria. The dark haired one said that he has been living here for two years now, he became a Swedish citizen last year. I turned to the blonde one, without waiting for me to ask, he said: “I’ve just arrived a couple of months ago, it’s pure luck how I came to Sweden, look at me, I’m blonde, I look European, that’s how I managed to get a fake passport and come to Sweden.”