Feature: Syrian refugee in Egypt dreams of better future in Europe

"Wish me luck and safety and keep your eyes on my children," these were the last words of Samira Aly, a Syrian female who left Egypt for an ambitious journey to Germany, to her neighbors.

Samira, 45 years old, fled Syria nearly four years ago after her residences in the countryside of Damascus became a target for daily strikes.

She came to Egypt with her husband, four children, aged from 7 to 15, and her mother-in-law.

"Without income, we are forced first to spend our savings, and then to take on debt. After a few months of grueling costs, we will no longer able to pay for rent, food or basic items," the lady, who was working as an architect with very good salary and luxury life in her country, said in a very sad voice.

Her husband, Ahmed Adel, a 48-year-old civil engineer, also failed to find a job in Egypt which is burdened with 12.8 percent of unemployment.

"Migration and dealing with brokers are the only way to end our sufferings and build new future for my family," she said.

Samira said that for more than three months, they kept on studying all means to travel to Europe, especially Germany, where her brother-in-law is working as a surgeon.

At the beginning, the Mediterranean Sea was the best choice for the family. But her husband gave up that option on concerns that travelling in a poor transportation amid bad weather is highly risky.

Then the family shifted their destination to Turkey from which Samira will take a tourist boat through Aegean Sea, to Ismir, southern west of Turkey to Greece, and then to Germany.

Avoiding taking a dangerous rubber boat or traveling in vans that pass through Serbia, Austria and Hungary, which will cost 400 to 1,000 U.S. dollars, Samira preferred to seek a fake passport, which will cost her 10,000 dollars.

"That was the most secured trip we have been offered," she reiterated.

But in that way, Samira's husband will stay with the children in Cairo.

"Because my husband holds the Palestinian nationality, its easier for me as a Syrian to travel to Turkey without complicated procedures," Samira explained.

"Once reaching Germany, I will hand myself to the authorities as a Syrian refugee, and ask for living in a refugee camp," she said.

According to the German regulations, if Samira manages to be granted the asylum right, she can ask for her husband and children to join her, based on the reunification principal.

"I don't know if I will see my family again or not, but I have no choice, I'm trying to find the best way for making good future for them," she said, waving with her hand, good bye Egypt.

As Syrian civil war enters its fifth year, around four million Syrians have fled abroad, while nearly 12 million are displaced inside Syria, according to the World Food Program's regional bureau in Syria.

More than 700,000 people have reached European shores so far this year, amid the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II, according to the UN refugee agency. Endit