Louay faced the difficulties of being a refugee from a very young age as his family fled Palestine in the 1960s and grew up in Egypt and then Libya. “The Palestinians haven’t had a good time.”
His situation seemed to improve when he met the love of his life, Karima, a young Tunisian woman who lives with her family in Libya. But the revolution broke out and they had to flee again this time to Tunisia.
Louay continued to travel to Libya to work until he had a stroke there in 2014. Karima did everything she could to give him the best chance of survival and recovery, but the only documents he had was a refugee card, and everything became complicated.
“I felt like he was with me. I was about to go crazy.”
Karima: I prayed that he would wake up. He’s the love of my life, he had to wake up. I talked to him, hugged him, and felt that he was with me. I was about to go crazy.”
The stroke left him half-paralyzed and completely dependent on the care of his wife. Louay is assisting UNHCR and our partner the Tunisian Refugee Council in Gabes. Given his situation, this is not enough.
UNHCR and the CTR have called for their inclusion in national assistance programmes. Thanks to this commitment, Louay got a card with which he can now get free healthcare, free transportation and medicine; Which unfortunately is still an exception for foreigners in Tunisia.
On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and every day, UNHCR is committed to the rights of displaced persons with disabilities and access to basic services, education and livelihoods.
