Syrian / Iraqi migrant interviews are surreal

Reading what Syrian and Iraqi migrants think of certain countries within Europe compared to others is quite surreal. I had assumed they for the most part knew which countries are developed and which are not, but here is an example I saw in Bulgarian Deutsche Welle yesterday of a lady who is bringing her son to Germany for medical treatment. That itself is nothing special, but this part is: she believes that only German doctors, not Austrians (she was interviewed in Austria), can save her son and so there is no stopping until she reaches Germany.

Полицаите отвели Фара Али и сина ѝ на сигурно място, където им дали храна и вода. Въпреки това 31-годишната иракчанка е толкова отчаяна, че едва сдържа сълзите си. "Синът ми е с физическо увреждане. Само германските лекари могат да му помогнат", казва жената. Обясняваме ѝ, че и в Австрия има модерно здравеопазване, но тя не ни вярва. В Багдад никой не говорел за Австрия, само за Германия.

The police took Farah Ali and her son to a safe place where they gave them food and water. But the 31-year-old Iraqi was still so desperate that she could barely hold back her tears. "My son has been physically injured. Only German doctors can save him," said the woman. We explained to her that Austria also has modern health care, but she did not believe it. In Baghdad nobody talks about Austria, only about Germany.