Migration and adversity in Afghanistan
Living conditions in Afghanistan get worse by the day, putting the lives of thousands of children, young people and their families in danger. Many of them, who have lost their homes, seek refuge in neighbouring Iran, where the same language is spoken. However, they are not welcomed there, nobody pays them any attention, and so they are forced to attempt the great move, the frightening and high-risk journey that threatens the safety of their children and families. What is more, when they arrive in Turkey they find the borders closed. And then their hope evaporates.
In Turkey, there are many families, including newborns, who sleep rough on pavements, and many of them lack food and water. According to a report by Deutsche Welle they are hoping that international organisations and the European Union will rescue them, but the Turkish government turns a blind eye to their plight. In many cases, the authorities send them back with the logic that this might put others off trying to migrate.
The question is, if these people felt safe, would they really put their own lives plus their children’s lives in danger in this way? It’s so obvious that the reason they do this, is quite simply because they are hoping for a better tomorrow.
Let’s ponder on this in a humanitarian way, let’s make ourselves aware of the misery of these people, who are going through hell in order to find one small glimmer of happiness and hope in your country.
We saw and heard that on the 22nd April 2018 57 people lost their lives and thousands were injured in a terrorist attack. What do you know about the 57 dead, about their families who are mourning them, about the injured and their families who are also suffering? People are executed and murdered every day. Had that fatal attack, which took place in Afghanistan, happened in another country, would the reaction of the international community have been the same?
Fatime Sedaqat
If you ask the youngest member of the group, known as Fatime Jun, how old she is she will answer 12. That has been her reply since 2016, when we first met her. Always the same. She makes us laugh and reminds us that we grow older by the day, even if we do not want to! Fatijun no longer wears a headscarf, she goes to school and we see how proud her father is of her at every meeting of the team’s parents. Very soon, her articles will be written directly in Greek.
This article was originally published in the eighth issue of ‘Migratory Birds’. The eighth issue of ‘Migratory Birds’ was produced by the Network for Children’s Rights, and supported by UNICEF with funding by the European Commission — Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. This edition was further supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung– Office in Greece, funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation, and published in Greece’s Efsyn newspaper on May 26, 2018.
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Please contact the teenage teams of the newspaper “Migratory Birds” and the web radio “Dandelion” of the Network for Children’s Rights by sending an email to migratorybirds@ddp.gr or by calling 00 30 210 88 46 590.
