War and poverty continue to drive youth out of country

KABUL (SW) – Frightened by the escalating violence and lured by human smugglers, more and more youngsters are resorting to embark on the dangerous routes of irregular migration from Afghanistan.

Jamshid is one such young man who underwent irregular migration in quest for a safer life, and reached Iran through difficult routes. Talking to Salam Watandar, he said he encountered many difficulties along the way and was constantly transferred from one place to another by the smugglers.

“I had to leave the country and arrive in Iran with great difficulty,” Jamshid told Salam Watandar. “After being in Iran for a while, I went to Turkey from there and stayed in that country for a while. Eventually, we got together with some of my friends and coordinated with another smuggler, traded some money with them, and then went to Greece via Turkey”, he explained.

Jamshid borrowed money from his friends to achieve his dream of a comfortable life with good facilities in Europe. He said he endured many hardships along the way and could not even find bread to eat and water to drink. Jamshid, however, reached Europe after overcoming all these difficulties.

 



 

He cited the lack of work as one of the reasons for his migration to Europe: “The reason for my migration was the lack of work. I suffered a lot from unemployment because there were about ten to twelve people in the family that I had to support, but I could not. I was finally forced to leave the country, I migrated, borrowed a sum of money from my friends and coordinated with the smuggler”, he said.

Jamshid explained that as he left Afghanistan, the troubles began. “We drank water from places where there was no clean drinking water, and after passing through the mountains and forests, we did finally reached Europe, but only to be deported back to Afghanistan”, he sighed.

Jamshid – who in order to achieve a better life and improve his family’s economic conditions took the dangerous path of irregular migration – returned to the country empty-handed.

Mohammad Hashem is another young man who embarked on an irregular migration to Iran in search of job. In order to reach Iran, he had to surrender all of his savings. “They (smugglers) beat people with guns and knives. They cut people’s nails, they cut people’s ears. If there is no money, they put five people in the trunk of small car. If you survive all hardships of the journey, the death is likely in that place”, he said.

According to Mohammad Hashem, despite all the hardships of the journey, the brutal behavior of human smugglers, and the payment of large sums of money he and his companions were left on their own in the brutal terrain.

He said some young people fell from the mountains and lost their lives. “We were at the top of the mountains. One of our companions slipped and went down. He was buried there. These were many corpses and graves on the mountains”, he said.

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Mohammad Hashem recalled that he faced all these problems only because the Afghan government has failed to provide jobs for young people.

Abdul Malik Rostami, the head of Jawzjan’s migrants and returnees department, said in this regard that the newly returned migrants should consult him to receive cash and food aid provided with the cooperation of partner institutions after registration.

“Migrants must refer to us when they return. Once they are registered in the system, they would be supported”, he said. “Sometimes cash aid is granted to us by the institutions with whom we share the list, and after assisting those who are available and approved, the donors help them”, he added

Every year, thousands of young people in the country travel to European countries to achieve a comfortable and peaceful life.

In most cases, the country’s youth migrate illegally in search of secure life and jobs, but are unaware of the physical, financial and psychological dangers, and end up losing their savings as well.

Jamshid and Mohammad Hashem are two among these young people who migrated due to insecurity, poverty, unemployment and to achieve a comfortable life, but after going through many hardships, they finally returned to the country empty handed.

ENDS

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