Macarena Soto |
Madrid (EFE).- Ali and Arif miss Pakistan and Afghanistan. They miss their family, their friends, their culture, their climate, their food… the life, after all, that they had to leave behind in search of “being able to find a life in peace.”
Both have lived in Spain for a year and a half where today, World Refugee Day, they are trying to rebuild their lives with their families or with new friends and partners, who have helped them settle in the country.
Arif was attended by six Westerners, who “got together and did their best” to get his name added to the United States’ list of people they had to take out of Afghanistan when the Taliban arrived in Kabul in August 2021.
“Osman, Matilde, Dinah, Martin, Maxime and Antonio” managed to secure a place for him on an American plane, although later, at their request, he ended up traveling to Spain.
“I managed to jump over the airport fence, I still don’t know how, many others were crushed to death. Then I was at the airport for two days and two nights, while we were completely overcrowded,” says this 24-year-old whose narration is reminiscent of those tremendous images of the Kabul airport.
His fate was very different from that suffered by those who could not flee the country, like his parents, who still reside there and due to possible reprisals from the Taliban, he is very restrained when faced with his testimony.
“When they took over my province, I stayed at home for a month out of fear, I didn’t feel well, I wasn’t happy, I was worried, I went to Kabul first and then I left the country,” explains the young man, who in Afghanistan installed internet connections and Today in Spain he works in the tourism sector.
discover another country
Arif found several people in Spain who also helped him and made him feel “part of their families.”
“At the beginning in Spain everything was very strange, the way of living of the people, the Government, the freedom of the people, the openness of the people, I was impressed the first days, now I am happy because the people have been very generous with me ”, he narrates.
A similar case is that of Ali (fictitious name), a Pakistani Pashtun who had to leave his country for his participation in the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) that defends the rights of this people, one of the largest ethnic groups. of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has risen up against the Taliban and the Pakistani military.
“There are many people (from the PTM) who have lost family members, in military operations, have disappeared and killed people, been shot or detained,” claims this Pakistani, who arrived in Spain a year and a half ago with his wife, his father, his three children and two orphaned nephews.
Not going back to your country even if you could
Ali is part of a reception program of the Diaconia organization, which on the occasion of World Refugee Day is launching today the project “Lives in transit: 12 stories of reception and refuge”, a documentary series to make visible the different reasons that lead to the people to apply for international protection.
Before coming to Europe, Ali and his family were in various provinces of the country but finally decided to leave: “we had no future there, my nephews, they don’t have a father because they killed him, my children haven’t gone to school for more than two years in a row … I didn’t see a future for them”.
In Pakistan, too, Ali’s dreams were dashed. There he studied “mathematics, English, biology and physics” while helping his father with farm work and working as a tailor, something he now does in Spain.
“We are waiting for the resolution to grant refuge, we still have no answer,” says the Pakistani who assumes that whatever happens, he does not want to return to his country.
“There we have seen terrible situations and right now the PTM activists are disappearing, the military does not want peace for the Pashtuns,” he considers.
For this reason, he says, “it is better to leave everything there”: “God has given us life and we want to live it in peace”