Aus der REIHE MIGRATIONSGESCHICHTEN von Birgit Stegbauer  (mehr InterviewpartnerInnen)

Nasim NAJAFI, 22: this Afghan with protection rights in Austria has a long escape story to tell: as a minor alone on the run he got through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey by boat to reach the safe haven of Europe. The Greek authorities refused to grant him political asylum. He managed to flee to Austria by illegal means, where he has now created a new life for himself.

I was born around 1992. I can only say that approximately, because in Afghanistan when children are born we don’t write it down. I lived with my parents and brothers and sisters in Ghazni, that’s a town in the mountains, southwest of Kabul. My father owned a shop there and we had fields and gardens. I went to school for two to three years in the mosque and afterwards to a normal school for five years, where I learnt to read and write. I could also play a lot.

My childhood ended when my father got shot. Because in Afghanistan it’s like that, there’s hatred between all male family members. We belong to the ethnic group called Hazara, they’re Persian-speaking Shiites who make up about 9% of the Afghan population. Now my Mum was frightened for my life as I’m the oldest son. She therefore decided that I had to leave Afghanistan. At that time I was about 16 years old.

We made contact with a people smuggler, my Mum collected all our cash and gave it to the people smuggler and then I was sneaked into Pakistan. But I wasn’t safe there without papers, so my mother had to get more cash together so that the smuggler could take me further into Iran. Although almost everyone in Iran was a Shiite, my situation was worse there than in Pakistan where you could get a lot of things if you had the money. So my smuggler spoke to another smuggler, so that I could escape from Iran on to Turkey.

Every illegal border crossing was bad, but on the way to Turkey we went without food and drink for a week and just prayed to God to help us. I stayed in Turkey one to two months and worked. The other Afghans wanted to go on to America, Australia or Europe where it’s safe and you don’t have to live in fear. I paid a people smuggler a lot of money again and finally with 20 or 25 other people I was on a rubber dinghy to Greece. On our second attempt we were successful and reached the Greek coast.

But the Greek police refused us the right of asylum*. We were beaten and sent away, we didn’t have anywhere to sleep, we had nothing to eat or drink and weren’t allowed to work. As illegal immigrants we lived in constant fear of deportation to Turkey or to our home countries. I was all alone with no money and distraught. In this state I went with other Afghans to Patras, a large ferry port which represents the gateway to Europe for just a few of us. Because there are big lorries there which we can escape to other European countries in as stowaways, with the help of people smugglers and a lot of luck.

I had already tried a number of times: as soon as I was detected I was beaten up by the drivers and the security service, that’s what I was most afraid of. However, it was the only way I hoped to get out of Greece. Eventually though it happened: I got through undetected in a lorry and was on my way to an unknown destination. Until the moment the lorry driver finally opened the door of the storage area, and I was only semi-conscious. An ambulance took me to a hospital where I was drip-fed with infusions and a translator told me I was in Austria. Then I knew that I was now safe.

I spent one day in prison, after that I went to the initial take-up centre for asylum in Traiskirchen. From there it was on to Carinthia, to Klagenfurt where I was accommodated in two different bed and breakfast places. I was with 11-12 other asylum seeker minors in a group. I have really positive memories of life in the bed and breakfast places. I especially liked meeting people from other cultures, with other languages and religions. The worst thing though was the uncertainty, like how they would decide on the asylum application; that makes people mentally ill.

I was lucky, I only had to wait two years for my ruling, for others it took four, six years. My application was actually rejected, but because my life is threatened in my home country I wasn’t deported; Austria has granted me some protection since then. Although that restricts my freedom to travel I can go to school here and work. I’ve already redone my GSE’s. At the moment I’m working so that I can have enough money to do ‘A’ levels at the business school and maybe go on studying too. I want to keep on learning and one day be a positive role model for other people.

17.09.2013

*Editor’s note: the Dublin II act of 18.2.2003 regulates the responsibilities regarding asylum procedure in the European Community. The most important rule dictates that the EU country in which the refugee initially enters must carry out the asylum procedure. The – poorer – southern European Mediterranean coastal states of the EU are left to take responsibility for the boat people from the other EU states themselves; they in turn can turn the boat people away.