Kandahari teacher sells home for failed bid of irregular migration

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KANDAHAR CITY (SW) – Gulali, a Kandahar resident and a graduate of Pashto literature, quit his job as a school teacher in search for his dream of safer and prosperous life abroad.

He said he had heard that the path of irregular migration to Europe was easy, the work there was light and the money was good, so he decided to sell his father’s house for about 1.5 million rupees. Gulali said the smugglers had traded him and many other migrants among them multiple times before he failed to reach Greece via Turkey and Iran.

Gulali spent most of the proceeds of the sale of his home to reach Turkey and for living in a “refugee camp” there. According to him, he used to earn a living as a teacher in his home country, but when he went in pursuit of his wild dreams of Europe, all the money was spent and he returned to Kandahar empty-handed.

The outbreak of the corona virus in the country further affected Gulali’s economic situation.

Now, he urges other young people to invest their wealth inside the country instead of going to foreign countries, as no one can easily reach foreign countries.

Meanwhile, Dost Mohammad Nayab, Kandahar’s director of refugee and returnees’ affairs, expressed concerns about the high level of human trafficking from the province.

According to Nayab, the migrants are being mistreated by traffickers, thieves and police in other countries along the way, and the plight of those who go on irregular migrations is dire. He told Salam Watandar that in view of these problems, he has set up public awareness programs to prevent irregular migration of youth.

Syed Sher Hussain Hunaryar, coordinator of the Refugee Information Center in Afghanistan, said in this regard that the center has shared information with the people in Kabul and other provinces about the negative consequences of irregular migration in universities, schools, mosques and other places. In this way, he said the issue could not be resolved entirely, but contained to some extent.

According to him, the campaigns have paid off and many people who wanted to leave the country irregularly have returned to the country.

Migration, and especially irregular migration, has increased in recent years as insecurity in Afghanistan has increased, with thousands of Afghans fleeing to different parts of the world each year. But, civil society activists and human rights advocates in Kandahar say raising public awareness alone is not the answer. They urge the warring factions to commit to a permanent ceasefire first and foremost to prevent illegal immigration from the country.

ENDS

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