Almost four years passed, and slowly, Ersela built a life in Greece. She had friends, school, steady work and even enrolled in piano lessons. The 15-year-old was finally experiencing a relatively normal adolescence.
As the afternoon sky dimmed, there was a knock on the door. Ersela immediately sensed something was wrong.
She opened the door to find two police officers.
“They had picked up Artan earlier that day,” Ersela says, slowly crossing her arms. “They asked to see his papers, and he told them he didn’t keep his papers on him while working. He said the papers were at home, so they detained him and got his address.”
The officers asked Ersela to gather her brother’s papers.
“I was terrified,” she recalls. “I grabbed whatever I could find, including his birth certificate.”
When the police read the certificate, they saw her brother’s Muslim name on it. The police allowed her to visit Artan while he was detained, but they both knew it was over. Soon, he was deported to Albania, leaving Ersela alone in Patras.