KABUL (SW) – Hameedullah, an 18-year-old resident of Logar province has irregularly migrated to Iran several times to in a bid to earn bread for his family.
He went to Iran for the last time two years ago through irregular immigration, but not only did his aspirations to continue his education not come true, but his economic situation further deteriorated.
Speaking to Salam Watandar about the problems of irregular migration, Hamidullah said he experienced death at every moment on top of the inhuman treatment he faced from the smugglers. Hamidullah said Iranian police deported him and his companions back to Afghanistan after beating and torture.
Despite enduring all these hardships, Hameedullah is yet to have a comfortable life as he returned to Afghanistan empty-handed a year ago.
He says that the only skill he learned during this period of stay in Iran was construction work, and now he wants to continue working and studying in Afghanistan.
“The main reason for my migration was that there were no jobs in the country. So we went to Iran. Believe me, we did not had food for the family, so I had to go to Iran to work. We went to Iran irregularly. We were transported 7 people from Ghazni to Isfahan in a car, which reached Isfahan in a very bad condition. We suffered a lot on the way and some of our friends fainted”, he recalled.
Hameedullah urges other young people in Afghanistan not to migrate illegally and to instead work and study in the country. He called on the government to step up efforts to prevent irregular migration.
Abdul Wasey Naseri, a social activist in Logar, said that insecurity, lack of employment and corruption have led to hundreds of young people migrating abroad irregularly to work. He also called on the government to provide jobs for young people so that they do not migrate irregularly.
“Many young people in the province are still migrating irregularly, which is very worrying,” Noor Ahmad Salehi, Logar’s director of immigration and returnees, told Salam Watandar. According to him, the local officials have shared the problems of irregular migration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and will soon help the returned migrants.
Salehi said that 901 migrants have returned to Logar this year, and most of them are those who have migrated irregularly.
But, Shah Khan Walizay, Logar’s director of labor and social affairs, said that in the past few years, various job opportunities have been provided for the province’s youth, and that hundreds of unemployed youth were now receiving vocational training. He added that efforts were being made to provide employment opportunities for literate and illiterate youth to curb irregular migration.
Insecurity, lack of employment and crippling poverty are some of the reasons why many young people migrate to other countries.
According to the Migration Information Center (MRC), although the corona virus has spread around the world restricting movement, but many young Afghans are still migrating abroad irregularly.
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