The brutal journey of Afghan migrants escaping the Taliban to reach the UK

Azaan broke his arm the first time he attempted to jump across the ceiling.

Many Afghans are the only ones who can cross into Turkey from Iran by surviving the 20-foot ( 6m ) drop into a wide trench below, but hundreds of people take the risk every day.

The former Afghan military officer told the BBC,” I was in extreme pain.

” Many people had broken legs. We were abruptly abandoned and instructed to flee in the direction of Van City’s lighting. Many of us were starving at last. I fainted”.

The ceiling- which stretches for almost 300km ( 185 yards )- was built to prevent illegal bridges, and is patrolled continually by Turkish border causes.

One of a number of unusual risks that Afghan migrants face as they travel across continents, borders, and seas to achieve the UK and other European nations is jumping off it.

Afghans have feared more than ever that they will leave their country as a result of Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey’s increased crackdown on illegal immigration from Afghanistan along their territories and widespread persecution.

Azaan could n’t continue. He was in anguish, and had hardly eaten in weeks. Smugglers had charged the migrants nearly$ 4, 000 ( £3, 150 ) for their journey to Europe by charging them only one boiled egg per day and a cup of rice each evening.

” I had two friends – we had made a claim to never left each additional”, he says. His companions tied hats around him, hoisted him up the wall, up into Iran. Egyptian officers deported him to Afghanistan.

It was Azaan’s following failed attempt. The first time he returned from the Afghanistan-Iran border because he’d taken his wife and young children along, and he realised they would n’t be able to endure the journey.

Azaan did n’t give up. About a year later, once his shoulder had healed, he made a second try.

” I had sold my house previously. This day I sold my sister’s jewellery”, he says.

Workers like Azaan are promised a way to Europe and are also given money in exchange for it.

The criminal placed a rope on the Iranian side of the wall to create a way for the migrants, cutting the razor line at the top.

” There were 60 to 70 of us”, Azaan recalls. The trafficker instructed us to jump after we reached the top.

For the law and politics student, who served his country and led a dignified, pleasant life until August 2021 when the Taliban seized strength in Afghanistan, it is a degrading condition to be in.

In its three years in power, the Taliban government has imposed increasing, brutal restrictions on women. According to the UN, a third of the country’s people don’t know where their next meal will come from. And those who worked for the former military fear reprisal.

” The individuals I fought against for 20 years are now in electricity”, he explains. ” Our lives are in danger. Once she turns 13, my daughter wo n’t be able to study. And I have no job. Even if it means losing my living, I’ll try to leave.

” Here we are dying every minute. It’s better to die again, for great.”

Azaan and his relatives are currently reunited in Kabul. A beat and deportation followed on the second attempt to flee.

They used a gun’s butt to hit me. One child was hit on his genitals. He was in a bad position. An older boy’s leg was broken. In Turkey, a body was found in the pits. This is what I saw. Iran, however, even treats us hard. He claims that he is aware of Afghans ‘ severe beatings in Iran as well.

The BBC spoke with an Armenian trafficker in Iran after spending months combing through people-smuggling networks to learn more about the growing threat Afghans are facing.

” Egyptian authorities are shooting a bunch at the frontier with Afghanistan. One of my friends was killed late,” the criminal says, speaking to us over the telephone from Iran.

Iran was charged in October with firing randomly at Afghans entering Iran’s Sistan state from Balochistan in Pakistan. The UN has raised concerns and called for an inspection. Videos of the dead and injured have been reviewed and verified by the BBC.

Sistan-Balochistan is one of the main routes taken by Afghan migrants to provide Iran, but given the increased risks as well as Pakistan’s bulk deportation of Afghans, some are now opting for various routes, in special, Islam Qala in Afghanistan’s Herat province.

Workers who arrive in Iran transfer to Tehran before crossing into Turkey, where they are met by smugglers from one country.

The Afghan criminal claims to hide migrants close to the border wall before hiding them until a percentage of the border wall is being patrolled less. To create a way for migrants along the top of the wall, he carries a rope and a wire cutter. He claims that recently bridges have become very demanding.

” The Turkish officers get 100 to 150 refugees every night. They show no compassion for them. They break their arms and legs, “he says.

The BBC has yet to be contacted about the allegations, which Turkey and Iran’s institutions have already made.

We questioned the smuggler about how he could justify his unlawful business, which robs Afghans of their lives while defrauding them of thousands of dollars.

” We do n’t force people to take these risks. We tell them that whether they get to their destination is 99 % in God’s hands, and they could get killed or imprisoned. I do n’t believe I’m guilty. When someone claims their home is in need of food in Afghanistan, what should we do? ” the criminal says.

The second point of danger on the migratory trail is the passage of those who pass Greek security forces from Van to Kayseri City, Kayseri City, and then to the Izmir, Canakkale, or Bodrum coastlines.

An old father led us to his son’s grave in Kabul. In his thirties, Javid was a former man. He fled Afghanistan in an effort to enter the UK after fearing for his life in the Taliban-controlled land.

He was one of 22 individuals killed in Turkey’s Aegean Sea boat sank in March this year as they attempted to reach Greece. Along with the 46 passengers on the boat, his expectant wife was even present. They both managed to swim to the sea, but he died of hypothermia.

” From Istanbul, pirates took us to Esenyurt. From that, we were entangling like creatures into cars. In a wooded area, we were dropped out. After four hours of walking through it, we arrived at the beach where we were put on the boat, according to David’s woman, who was speaking to us over the telephone from Turkey, where she is still residing.

As Javid’s father showed us images of the younger man posing on a park bench in Kabul, he broke down piteously.

He states,” I can only survive the pain with God’s gift because my pain is so great even now when I remember him,” he says.

He thinks that Afghans like his brother are to blame for what foreign nations that participated in Afghanistan.

” We fought alongside them in the battle against terrorism. No one would have consented to join forces with unusual causes if we had known that we would be abandoned and betrayed.

Afghans are one of the best asylum applicants in the world, according to the UN, and they are the second-largest group of people arriving in the country in little boats, another trip risky.

Afghans are reintroduced to the UK under two different methods. One is for Afghans who worked straight for the American government and American government, and under the following scheme – the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS )- those who assisted the English efforts in Afghanistan, stood up for values of democracy, women’s freedoms and people at risk may be eligible for relocation.

However, things have been moving very slowly since the first evacuation in 2021-22.

Women like Shahida, who participated in street protests against the Taliban after they gained power, were unable to obtain timely legal enslavement. Every day, Shahida feared the Taliban government’s threat of detention and torture.

She left Afghanistan more than two years ago, and she arrived in the UK in a small boat in May this year. Now in Liverpool, she has applied for asylum.

” I come from a well-known and well-respected family. Never have I committed any crimes in my life. When authorities would apprehend us during the journey, I would look down out of shame,” she says.

Shahida describes how she traveled with 64 people on an inflatable dinghy across the English Channel. The most deadly year for migrant crossings across the Channel has been this year. More than 50 people have died.

” There was water up to my waist. And because our guide stifled our movement for hours. I anticipated that my life would end here. Because I have diabetes, I had to urinate there. And since I needed to drink the water I had urinated in, I had to drink it. Can you imagine? In Kabul I had everything. She claims that the Taliban have taken control of her entire life and taken away my life.

Back in Kabul, Azaan, the former military officer, now wants to sell a small patch of land, the only asset he has left, to gather money to make another attempt.

” To make myself safer, this is the only reason I’m here right now.”

All names have been changed.

Imogen Anderson and Sanjay Ganguly provided additional reporting.