Stories don’t always stop once they’re published. This is what it’s like getting the endings readers often miss out on

It’s not uncommon for journalists to stay in touch with the people they write about, sometimes for years afterwards. That’s especially true when you meet someone in a vulnerable situation or going through a difficult time in their life.

Sometimes what comes after the story is printed is even more dramatic than the story itself. But the news isn’t like Netflix – readers don’t usually get to follow characters as they go on with their journey. And so journalists carry these unpublished endings with them.

A happy one came to me recently. I met a woman named Simin in a migrant centre in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2017. I had been travelling along the European migrant trail to talk to the people who were still trying to make it across the continent despite a crackdown at the borders.

Simin was travelling on her own, trying to get to Germany from her native Iran, where she fled after being persecuted for her work as a journalist. I met her at her lowest point. She had travelled across borders and mountains, most of it on foot. But when she was crossing between Serbia and Croatia she was raped by two smugglers.

Her ordeal didn’t end there. When she made it to the other side, she was arrested by the Croatian police. Because of European laws, she was forced to stay in Croatia to claim asylum.

The story I wrote ended on a dark note: “I’ll die if I stay here,” she said.

In the months that followed, Simin and I kept in contact on WhatsApp. She told me she was never going to stop trying to make it to Germany, and she kept me updated on her attempts to break out of Croatia.

After many failed attempts she eventually made it out. But once she arrived in Germany the authorities told her she would have to go back. Her messages became more desperate. Sometimes she would talk of suicide.

I would help any small way I could. Sometimes that involved trying to set up meetings for her refugee organisations in the place where she was, trying to figure out how she might get support to appeal – but it wasn’t much. In truth, she was on her own. I was little more than a spectator.

This went on for about a year.

Then, after months of silence, a picture arrived in my inbox. It was Simin’s brand new German passport. She was staying. It might not be news, but it’s a far better ending than the one the reader got.

Yours,

Richard Hall

Middle East correspondent