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FAIZABAD (SW) – Khalid (pseudonym); a young high-school graduate from Badakhshan was lured by human smugglers to migrate to Iran for a better life only to face the worst there.
Dreaming for a peaceful life, Khalid sold his mother’s jewelry to pay AFN 50,000 to a human smuggler that was introduced to him by his friends. The smuggler took them to Iran through after a treacherous journey where he worked as construction laborer at a building for six months. The contractor hand Khalid over to the police when he asked the salary for the hard labor.
“We were always facing such a situation, whenever I asked for the salary, the Iranian contractor would threaten us to quit the job”, he said. Khalid said the Iranian contractor owes him some AFN 100,000, and is not responding to repeated phone calls from Afghanistan.
He lamented all the rosy pictures the smuggler had pained for him about Iran turned out to be false.
The young man said he faced persecution and physical violence throughout the route to Iran from smugglers and border guards. He said the group of Afghan migrants was kept hostage until money was paid to the smugglers. “They kept beating and abusing us for 10 to 15 days until we paid them the money”, Khalid recalled.
Jamil is another disappointed Afghan refugee deported from Iran. This young man said he is now faced with worst circumstances than prior to migration to Iran for work. He said the Iranian are involved in economic exploitation of the Afghan refugees. Jamil said literally all Afghan refugees are denied their salaries, and threatened by their Iranian bosses.
The tragic tale of Khalid and Jamil narrates how these young Afghans tempted by the smugglers are sold in the neighboring countries.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in Badakhshan has expressed concerns over this situation. Conservative official estimates suggest up to 50 per cent of youngsters in Badakhshan have opted for migration to Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.
Arifa Naveed, head of the AIHRC in Badakhshan, told Salam Watandar at least 50 out of each 100 youngsters in almost every village in Badakhshan are forced by poverty and insecurity to be targeted by the human smugglers and traffickers. She said the youngsters are lured by traffickers to travel to Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.
The National Referral Mechasnim Mechanism (NRM) is a mechanism which is developed by the Afghan government’s High Commission to combat trafficking and smuggling. The purpose of this mechanism is to help government and NGOs to identify, refer, assist, and protect the VoTs and prosecute traffickers in a coordinated manner as outlined in the Afghanistan TiP Law 2017.
Article 12 of the NRM underlines the responsibilities of the AIHRC as followed: It should prepare and implements programs to raise awareness about the threats of trafficking of humans and the migrants. It should help with legislation related to the trafficking of humans and the migrants. It should also monitor the state of the victims of trafficking of humans and the migrants. It should publish a quarterly report about the activities to the high commission against trafficking of humans and the migrants.
Officials at the directorate for refugees and repatriates in Badakhshan said those deported from Iran have shared heart-breaking tales of exploitation. Abdul Wahid Tayabi, head of the directorate for refugees and repatriates, said many among these deportees are minor boys, who have also been sexually abused in Iran. “They are never paid, they were handed over to the police, and have been abused before deported.”
He said more than 5000 Afghans have been deported from Iran in the recent past, but no one has helped them properly. He added there are no concrete and updated figures available on it.
ENDS
