{"id":8844,"date":"2021-12-15T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.maisoninteractive.com\/mixedmigrationcenter\/?p=8844"},"modified":"2021-12-17T16:17:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T15:17:13","slug":"five-stories-of-afghans-evacuated-to-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.maisoninteractive.com\/mixedmigrationcenter\/articles\/five-stories-of-afghans-evacuated-to-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Five stories of Afghans evacuated to Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read in English<\/a> | Leggi in italiano<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n

\u201cIt was my only option<\/em>\u201d: five stories of Afghans evacuated to Italy<\/span> <\/strong><\/h1>\n

On 15 August 2021, Taliban forces took control of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. While Afghanistan has a long-standing history of migration and displacement<\/a> for reasons linked to conflict, insecurity, poverty, and environmental disaster, the fall of Kabul rapidly increased the number of displaced Afghans fleeing the Taliban regime. In the weeks leading up to the Taliban takeover around 30,000 people<\/a> were reportedly fleeing Afghanistan every week to neighboring countries of Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, and for some farther afield to Turkey and the EU.<\/p>\n

During the very last days before the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, European governments evacuated<\/a> approximately 20.000 vulnerable Afghans, mostly individuals who previously worked with foreign governments and international NGOs, as well as human rights activists, journalists and ethnic minorities. These Afghan women, men and children are now scattered across several European countries, where they are trying to rebuild their lives, while following the developments of the situation in their country of origin.<\/p>\n

The MMC will follow the paths of five Afghan asylum seekers over the course of the next year, with the aims of better understanding their individual stories, their experiences in accessing asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection, the perceptions, challenges, and opportunities in their socio-economic integration path in countries of asylum, as well as their future aspirations and intentions. The methodology follows a longitudinal life story approach, through repeated interviews every four months, which allows for a unique insight into the challenges respondents will be facing, and the choices they will be making in Europe.<\/p>\n

The MMC conducted the first series of interviews between October and November 2021, with five people who were evacuated to Italy. Participants represent different ethnicities, religions, genders and age groups, in an effort to gain a wider overview of the Afghan displacement experience. Personal information has been treated with strict confidentiality and the names of the respondents altered, to protect their identity.<\/p>\n

Here are the stories of Noor, Abdul, Hussain, Mohammed, and Laila so far:<\/span> <\/strong><\/h2>\n