Refka Elech’s life hit rock bottom, but she refused to break – Now she uses her experiences to lift others
“Immigrants are partners in building Finland’s future — not guests, but contributors,” says Elech.
Seblewongel Tariku
Sercan Alkan
Published 08.01.2026 at 5:35
Updated 08.01.2026 at 5:35
When Refka Elech arrived in Finland in 2009, she was 23, newly married and pregnant with her first child. She hoped life in Central Finland would bring stability. Instead, quite the opposite happened.
Her husband became emotionally and financially abusive, controlling nearly every aspect of her life. In a new country without family, friends, or language skills, Elech felt she had nowhere to turn.
“I was alone. I didn’t know the language, my rights, or how to get help,” she says.
In 2013, she finally managed to leave the marriage and file for divorce. She took her children and moved to Helsinki, hoping for a fresh start. But relief never came.
She was now solely responsible for a breast-feeding infant and a three-year-old needing asthma medication every few hours.
“I slept maybe three hours a night,” she says. Years of isolation and exhaustion pushed her close to collapse.
As social services stepped in to support the family, communication problems deepened the crisis. Elech relied on an interpreter, but her North African Arabic accent was not fully understood. She believes that key details were distorted.
“My words were twisted; small mistakes became huge problems.”
Officials, however, saw a situation far more serious than a misunderstanding. In 2014, her children were placed in foster care – a moment Elech still describes as the most devastating of her life.
“I felt misjudged and misunderstood.”
Low point becomes a turning point
That low point in 2014 also became a turning point for Elech. She decided to rebuild her life “for my children and for myself.”
Her first step was returning to Finnish language studies. She had taken beginner classes in 2010 but dropped out after the basic level because caring for small children made it impossible. This time, she enrolled in an intensive course.
“It wasn’t easy, but I knew language was my only door to a new life,” she says.
As her skills improved, her confidence grew. The following year she began helping newly arrived Iraqi and Syrian asylum seekers with Finnish, surprised to find how much she could already support others. The experience sparked a new idea: perhaps she could become a professional interpreter.
She felt that misunderstandings during her own custody process had been partly caused by poor interpreting. She wanted to ensure no one else would face the same.
“I didn’t want anyone to suffer because of someone’s carelessness.”
Professional interpreter
In 2016, Elech took the language and interpreting exams and was accepted onto an interpreter training at Semantix, a major Helsinki-based agency.
“I studied for six months, and before I even finished, another company hired me. That’s when my career truly began.”
She has now worked as an interpreter for eight years, and since 2020, she has run her own business providing interpreting, translation, and consulting services for newcomers navigating migration, integration, and relocation.
The work is demanding, often taking her into emotionally heavy environments. Hospital assignments are the most difficult.
“I’ve interpreted when doctors told parents their child has only a short time left,” she says. “In moments like that, every word must be accurate, gentle, and responsible.”
Some cases echo her own past – child protection, domestic violence – and can reopen old wounds.
“It’s hard to stay neutral when a situation feels like your own story,” she says. “Sometimes I have to swallow my trauma and choose every word with care.”
Yet the work can also be deeply meaningful. She recalls interpreting for a young man recovering from a severe accident. He told her he had felt invisible until she walked in. For him, Elech was the first person who treated him as human rather than a monster.
“Moments like that stay with you,” Elech says.
From a survivor to an advocate
The driving force behind Elech’s career has been her determination to ensure that others do not endure what she once did.
“I want immigrant women — and all immigrants, including asylum seekers — to know their rights.”
In recent years, that mission has expanded beyond interpreting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Elech became active on social media, producing short Arabic-language videos to counter misinformation about the virus, as well as misconceptions about Finnish laws and social services.
Elech drew on the knowledge she had gained through her own struggles and her professional experience with lawyers, Migri, police, and social workers. She calls it education “from the inside.”
Her audience grew quickly. Currently, her most popular social media account on TikTok has 26,000 followers.
At the same time, Elech entered politics. She joined the Social Democratic Party in 2020, motivated by the challenges she had faced as an immigrant.
“I decided to speak for others dealing with the same problems,” she says.
For her, political participation is essential.
“Policies about immigrants are often made without immigrants. Change cannot happen from outside. We need to be in the room.”
Gratitude and critique
Since 2021, Elech has served in multiple positions in local politics, including the Multicultural Affairs Advisory Boards of both the City of Vantaa and the Vantaa–Kerava welfare area. In the 2025 municipal elections, she was elected deputy councillor in Vantaa city council.
Together with her colleagues, she has advocated for more multilingual materials and staff in hospitals, schools and social services, as well as greater involvement of immigrant families in budget and service planning.
After 15 years in Finland, Elech looks at her experiences with both gratitude and critique.
“Finland gave me the chance to grow, to work,” she says. She is especially grateful to her party for “opening the door for an immigrant woman to sit at the table, to speak, to influence.”
But she still believes she has been mistreated by officials. Despite a decade-long legal battle, her children remain in foster care. The authorities have argued that the children would need psychological support, that they would not receive while living with their mother.
“I have stabilized my life, my health, my finances — everything — to bring my children home. But still, it was denied.”
Even so, Elech refuses to break.
“My hardships have not destroyed me. They have built me,” she says. “Even if you start from zero, you can decide whether you stay a victim — or become a warrior.”