Afghanistan is not safe
The British Foreign Office is very clear about how dangerous Afghanistan is. Their travel advice lists at length the threats of suicide bomb attacks, road-side attacks, kidnappings and terrorism.
Our country of origin information blog on Afghanistan makes for depressing reading: regular incidents of indiscriminate violence - with high numbers of civilian death and injury - in the cities; and Taliban, Hezb-i-Islami and warlord control and intimidation in the regions. And things are getting worse. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has registered a steady increase in civilian death from 2008 to 2011.
In this short film, the Mazloom Project Documentary made by Kieran Sheehan Dance Theatre and NCADC, young Afghans living in London explain why it is not safe for them to be returned to Afghanistan.
Young people and children are particularly vulnerable to these risks, and the socio-economic hardships in Afghanistan, and are the most frequent victims of landmines, a legacy of Afghanistan's troubled past. And it is young Afghans who have rebuilt their lives in the UK that the government is sending back to Afghanistan once they turn 18. They are sent back on 'ghost flights' - mass deportations charter flights that leave in the middle of the night from unknown airports and operated by unknown companies.
There is no monitoring of what happens to these (almost always) young men forcibly removed to Afghanistan. The ones who keep in touch report terrible conditions. The ones who don't keep in touch we fear for even more.
Socio-economic conditions
UNHCR estimates that in 2012, the number of conflict-induced internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan substantialy exceeded 400,000. These IDPs languish in slums and IDP camps, often freezing to death with the government unable to assist them. These are the conditions in which young Afghans who have spent many years in UK, and who have lost all contact with their family, will have to struggle to survive.
If the Home Office or the court decides that your home region is not safe, but you could live instead in Kabul, for example, the law says that this relocation cannot be 'unduly harsh' in terms of socio-economic conditions. Read more in our toolkit.
Read Amnesty International's report Fleeing War, Finding Misery:
About 400 people are displaced every day in Afghanistan. With the conflict intensifying in recent years, entire communities have fled their homes in search of greater security – and their numbers are rising. Tens of thousands of people have sought shelter in slums in the capital, Kabul, as well as other cities.
Winter-time is especially dangerous for the internally-displaced in Kabul. Last winter, dozens of people died including children. Afghans are bracing themselves for another harsh winter.
Resources
ERPUM: Video of the May 2013 Refugee Studies Centre (Oxford) workshop on the deportation of unaccompanied minors from the EU: Part One and Part Two.
Trees Only Move In the Wind: UNHCR study of unaccompanied Afghan children in Europe (download)
Join the Stop Deportations to Afghanistan group on Facebook
YPSS is a network of young people, groups and individuals who support young people seeking safety in our local communities. It provides a formal platform for local and national groups across the UK to communicate, meet and work towards ensuring the care and human rights of young asylum seekers in the UK.
Touring theatres in June 2013
Mazloom is a portrait of a young refugee, alone in London, whose life is being torn apart by the impending prospect of deportation to Afghanistan, where indiscriminate violence and Taliban intimidation await.
This short, powerful theatre performance incorporates immersive film footage to recreate the long perilous journey to Europe and the agonising wait for the life-or-death decision on their asylum claim.
Mazloom is based on the experiences of young Afghans, who as children were forced by war to leave their family and home to seek safety in the UK.
“Mazloom is a tender and honest piece of the human story behind an issue that is so often reduced to statistics and political manifesto soundbites”
Hamish Jenkinson, director Old Vic Tunnels
Find out more on the Mazloom website.
Films and books
Books
Hinterland: Two young brothers Aryan and Kabir travel by truck, boat, train, bus and on foot across a Europe they desperately hope will offer them a future they can no longer wait for in Afghanistan. Incredibly moving and vital reading.
In The Sea There Are Crocodiles: When ten-year-old Enaiatollah Akbari’s small village in Afghanistan falls prey to Taliban rule in early 2000, his mother shepherds the boy across the border into Pakistan but has to leave him there all alone to fend for himself.
Films
Kamran's Story
The animated story of a young Afghans life in Afghanistan and his journey to the UK. This is one of four films made as part of the 'Home to Home' project.
Faisal's Story
This Refugee Council film tells the story of Faisal, who fled Afghanistan at the age of 15, and after arriving in the UK was held in a detention centre as an adult because the authorities did not believe he was a child.
Hamedullah: The Road Home
The story of Hamedullah Hassany, a young teen who fled here from Afghanistan and lived safely and happily in Canterbury until he was snatched by UKBA and deported to Afghanistan in dead of night. Given a video camera by the director Sue Clayton before he is deported, Hamedullah films what life is like back in Afghanistan. See website for screening information.
Hope
A short documentary film about two Afghani asylum seekers who met travelling from France to UK in a lorry, sharing each other's dreams and hope for a better future in the UK.