A 17-year-old Afghan refugee tells his story
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Ruined buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan
Photo: Sean Sutton/Oxfam |
"I am from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.The fighting
has been going on in my country for many years.
"Things got really bad when the Taliban came.
Every day there was fighting, from morning to night. There was lots
of bombing and shooting. Many people were killed.
"My father, my mother, and my little sister were
killed by a bomb three years ago, when I was 15. It is very difficult
for me to talk about this.
"My father used to have a tobacco shop. At one
o’clock he came back from the shop to have a meal with my mother
and my sister. I was at school but I could hear all the fighting.
At 2 o’clock I came home and saw what had happened. My whole
street had been destroyed. There was nothing left. No father, no
mother. My home was finished.
"When I saw this I fell to the ground. I was in hospital for
one month. I couldn’t speak at all – I couldn’t even
make a sound. After one month I started to speak again, very very
slowly. It is still very difficult for me to speak."
Journey to England
"After my parents were killed I stayed in Afghanistan for
two years, with my mother’s sister. Then I went to Pakistan
to live with my older brother and sister. I stayed there for one
month. My brother and sister paid a man five thousand dollars to
get me to England.
"I came here in a lorry and a boat. For two months I didn’t
speak to or see anybody. I slept and ate in the lorry. It was very
hard. I was sick every day. I only had enough food and water for
one month.
"After this time all my food and water was finished. Five
or six times I had to get out to steal food. I had never stolen
before. My mother and father taught me not to steal.
"When the lorry got to England I hid outside, underneath the
lorry. Then I stayed in this position for a long time. It was raining
very heavily and the driver was going very fast. It was terrible
and I was frightened. I was holding on very tight and my arms were
very painful.
"I thought ‘Why have I come here? I don’t like England’.
The wheels were spraying water all over me and I was very wet and
dirty. After about six hours I fell.
"One or two days later I woke up in hospital. I don’t
know where I was. Then a woman brought me to the Social Services
in Oxford and they gave me money and somewhere to stay. It has been
good for me here. I go to school here. I am learning to speak English."
The future
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Returned refugee children in Chaltapa village,
Northern Afghanistan
Photo: Diana Melrose/Oxfam |
"Now I am young, and I must work, because I need money. I
would like to work in fashion, making clothes. I am very good at
cutting and working with material.
"I can’t go back to Afghanistan – please, no –
there is fighting, fighting all the time. I want to go back to my
brother and sister in Pakistan. I send them letters, and sometimes
we speak on the telephone. I want to join them again but I can’t
because I haven’t got any money."
More refugee resources
Introduction
|| History
|| Geography
& Environment
People
& Society || Factfile
|| Oxfam in Afghanistan
|| Other resources
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