KABUL (SW) – Tariq Rasa, 27, is a resident of Baghlan province who left his job nearly six years ago and embarked on the path of irregular migration in search for a safe and prosperous life.
Before migrating, Tariq worked for a private media outlet. He left his family and country due to repeated threats to his life, and in order to save his life, he first went to Iran and from there to Turkey.
Like many other youngsters, Tariq was the deceived by human smugglers and underwent many difficulties on the high-risk route of irregular migration. He said that in a mini-bus that could transport only a small number of people, up to 14 people were transported to Iran.
Tariq recalled that he even cried due to pain and suffocation he faced inside this vehicle. He and his companions spent twelve days on the road because the border was closed. Out of extreme thirst, Tariq said he and his companions drank filthy water from the roadside during this thorny journey.
He is still shivered by the nightmares of this journey as he recounts the darkness of those nights and the bitter memories of passing through dead bodies comes to haunt him. “We crossed the border and it was night when we arrived there, as we were moving I noticed my foot touched the head of a man who was dead his body was lying there, which I realized later. I still see that moment in my nightmares”, he recalled.
Tariq has recently returned from Turkey and is happy with his life. He urges other young Afghans to never leave the country.
Abdul Mujeeb Khalwatgar, executive director of the NAI – supporting free media organization, said that Afghan journalists are constantly humiliated and, in some cases, beaten just for accessing information. According to him, those who humiliate and beat journalists are government officials, local commanders, the Taliban and other armed groups.
He added that since the beginning of 2020, there have been more than 50 complaints from journalists, most of them about threats and lack of access to information.
Speaking on this matter, Sayed Abdul Basit Ansari, a media consultant at the Ministry of Refugees and Returnees, said that the ministry has launched programs to raise awareness about irregular migration. According to him, schools and universities have been informed and as a result of their efforts in 2020, the number of irregular migrants has decreased significantly.
Ansari said that about 7,000 to 8,000 people a year, including IDPs and returnees, are trained through technical and vocational training in various fields such as tailoring and carpentry.
According to the latest statistics by the Ministry of Refugees and Returnees, the number of Afghan refugees in European countries reached from 52,000 in 2018 to 33,000 in 2019. However, the exact statistics for 2020 are not yet available and will be announced by the European Union at the end of this year.
The ministry’s statistics also showed that since the beginning of 2020, about 500,000 people have returned from Iran and Pakistan.
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