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On the road with Afghan refugees: From Kabul to Lesbos

Afghans undertake perilous journey as situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, and Europe prepares for mass deportations.

Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Carrying just the bare necessities, a young Afghan prepares to board a bus at the Kabul-Kandahar bus station, the first leg on a long journey. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
By Jim Huylebroek
Published On 10 Oct 2016

Kabul, Afghanistan – Fifteen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the security situation in the country is worsening. Last year, more than 200,000 Afghans made the perilous journey through Iran and Turkey and across the Aegean Sea to Greece – in search of safety in Europe.

But for Afghans, the prospect of asylum in Europe is diminishing. Many are having their applications rejected and their hopes shattered. This spring the average rate of successful Afghan asylum applications fell to only 53 percent. Recently, the EU leaders agreed to a deal that will see the unlimited deportation of Afghans whose asylum applicaitons fail, back to Afghanistan.

An agreement between Turkey and the EU means that refugees arriving on the Greek islands are likely to be sent back to Turkey. Those who make it to mainland Greece meet closed borders and are unable to continue their journey through the Balkans. 

 READ MORE: The desperate journeys of refugees

Unlike Syrian refugees, Afghans are not eligible for the European Union’s refugee relocation scheme that relocates asylum seekers in Greece and Italy to other countries. Afghans therefore remain in limbo – stranded in Greece and unable to return.

The deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan may explain why Afghans continue to make the perilous journey. The total number of civilian casualties has reached its highest level since the United Nations started counting in 2009 and every day this year, another 1,000 people were forced to flee their homes and become internally displaced.

Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Uncertain about lies ahead, Afghans wait for a bus to depart from Kabul to Nimroz, the southern Afghan province bordering Pakistan and Iran. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
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Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
A pick-up truck filled with Afghans sitting in the back makes its way through the rough Nimrozi landscape en rout to Iran. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Exhausted from the long bus ride, Ahmad takes a rest outside a restaurant after arriving in Nimroz from Kabul. In the morning he will attempt the dangerous journey across the border into Iran. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Ranging in age from 13 to 55, a group of Afghan refugees wait in a pick-up truck at a petrol station on the outskirts of Zaranj. The treacherous trip they are about to undertake will take them through the Baluchi desert, from Afghanistan through southern Pakistan and into Iran. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Afghans are still fleeing their country in droves. In Nimroz Province, which lies in desert between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, refugees are loaded on to pick-up trucks ready to cross borders used down the ages by smugglers. Though the trip into Iran carries risks, it is undertaken by young single travellers and families alike. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Kabul-Kandahar bus station, on the western outskirts of Afghanistan's dusty capital. The place comes alive at night. Flocks of young men carrying backpacks arrive as ticket sellers shout out destinations. Most buses, fully packed, leave for one destination: Nimroz. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
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Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
'My family put all their money together so I could get out. If I reach Europe, at least there is chance for a future,' says Abdul Khaliq, 14, as he prepares to set off from Kabul's Kandahar bus station. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Muhammad Nasim and his three-year-old son, Ali Reza, sit in their small apartment in Van, eastern Turkey. They were given furniture by other Afghan families. Nasim, a pastry chef originally from Samangan, had been living in Kabul since 2003. He received a letter from the Taliban saying he would be killed if he didn't report to a Taliban court. The letter said he was guilty of aiding the illegitimate leaders of Afghanistan although he has no connections to the government. The police told him they couldn't guarantee his family's safety so he fled. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Ahmad, Zia Ul Haq, Milad and Mujtaba sit in the small flat they share in Konya, Turkey. They left their home in northern Afghanistan three years ago and spent two years in Iran working to raise the smugglers' fee to take them to Turkey. Now they have received refugee status but want to move to Europe as jobs for Afghan refugees are scarce in Turkey. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
A Portuguese Frontex vessel picked up a rubber boat carrying 52 people off the coast of Lesbos. As smuggling gets tougher, migrants are increasingly being put on boats of lower quality in larger numbers, which makes for a more risky crossing. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
One of the rubber boats arriving in the port of Skala Sikamineas, on Lesbos, carried an Afghan family of seven from Baghlan. The family fled when their home district was overrun by the Taliban. Their youngest child is just over one year old. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
Fatima, from Baghlan province in Afghanistan, breaks down into tears after reaching the shores of Lesbos by boat with her family. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection/ Please Do Not Use
An apartment run by smugglers in the Zeytinburnu neighbourhood of Istanbul. The place is fit for a small family but is home to up to 30 young Afghans each night. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]
Afghans’ dangerous journey to seek protection
A group of Afghans await their smuggler on a square in central Istanbul. Many migrants get stuck in Turkey as they run out of money to pay for the rest of their trip to Europe. Many become homeless on the streets of Turkey. [Jim Huylebroek/Norwegian Refugee Council]