Eurovision winner Jamala becomes a refugee, tells family story of fleeing

Romar Fernando

March 11, 2022

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  Photo Credit: AFP

  Ukraine’s Eurovision winner Susana Jamaladinova also known as ‘Jamala’ and her family have become refugees due to Russia and Ukraine conflict, March 10, Thursday.

  The 38-year-old artist never thought that she would become a refugee like her grandmother. “I never thought it would be a reality today, because it was in the past. I was really shocked,” she told Agence France-Presse.

  In search for safety, Jamala and her family drove to Ternopil which is about 400 kilometers west. The sounds of explosions haunted them that they moved again into the Romanian border. Jamala and her two kids were picked up by her sister who lives in Istanbul, Turkey.

  Jamala’s lyrics was once drew Russia’s ire and call for boycott before. She has been a symbol of resistance against Russian aggression.

  “We are a new generation, (we think) about peace, about how to collaborate, about how to unite but we see these terrible things. This war is happening before the eyes of the world. We should understand that it’s really terrorism, it’s a really cruel war in central Europe,” she said.

  Jamala doesn’t know what the future holds for her, but she remains defiant. “Ukraine is a real huge country with its own language, with its own culture, with its own history. It has nothing in common with Russians,” Jamala concluded.

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