{"id":9324,"date":"2022-05-03T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T07:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.maisoninteractive.com\/mixedmigrationcenter\/?p=9324"},"modified":"2022-05-02T23:56:20","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T21:56:20","slug":"stories-of-afghan-refugees-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.maisoninteractive.com\/mixedmigrationcenter\/articles\/stories-of-afghan-refugees-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDon\u2019t forget about Afghanistan\u201d: Stories of Afghan refugees in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cDon\u2019t forget about Afghanistan<\/em>\u201d: Stories of Afghan refugees in Europe<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Nine months after the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the Afghan crisis is far from over, with 2 million<\/a> registered refugees in neighboring countries of Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and 3.4 million <\/a>estimated internally displaced persons (IDPs). One in three Afghans is food insecure<\/a>. Reports of discrimination against minority groups<\/a>, as well as women and girls<\/a>, continue. The security situation in the country, including in the capital Kabul, remains extremely difficult, with frequent bombings targeting mosques and schools, often along the lines of sectarian violence. In April, in only three days, at least 30 people were killed and dozens more injured<\/a> in several bomb attacks in the capital.<\/p>\n

Despite the international media coverage and the wave of support expressed by many governments across the globe in the aftermath of the Taliban take-over, the attention towards Afghanistan is now slowly yet consistently fading away<\/a>, overshadowed by other crises, like the war in Ukraine. While acknowledging the need of addressing new crises as they emerge, it is also necessary to avoid turning a blind eye to \u201colder\u201d and long-lasting conflicts or humanitarian crises such as the Afghan one. The generous and heartwarming response all over Europe to the Ukraine crisis and its 5 million refugees<\/a> has taught us how widespread solidarity can lead to generous protection.<\/p>\n

To keep a spotlight on Afghans, the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) has been following the paths of five Afghan asylum seekers who arrived in Italy after August 2021. The aim of this series is to better understand and share their individual stories, their experiences in accessing asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection, the perceptions, challenges, and opportunities in their socio-economic integration paths in countries of asylum, as well as their future aspirations and intentions. In particular, we want to continue following and sharing their stories over a longer period of time to avoid losing sight of their evolving challenges and experiences after arrival in Europe.\u00a0The first round of interviews<\/a> was conducted between October and November 2021. In this article, we present the second round of interviews, with four out of the five initial respondents. MMC will continue to follow their paths, with two more interviews planned for 2022.<\/p>\n

But how can we describe the path towards integration of the Afghans interviewed so far? How can we define their attitude and feelings now that they are safe in Europe? To begin with, their stories show strong determination and resilience, and a mixed bag of conflicting emotions including happiness, hope, guilt, and incertitude. A sense of happiness and accomplishment is holding back sad thoughts for the many Afghans who could not make it out of the country and are still struggling for survival. Our respondents also feel a responsibility and commitment to succeed and live up to the luck they had, towards others who are left behind and did not have that luck. Finally, their sense of optimism for their own future in Europe stands in sharp contrast with a more pessimistic outlook for their own country. Despite all this, they proudly face their daily challenges in a country that they would have never imagined they would one day call home.<\/p>\n

Participants represent different ethnicities, religions, genders and age groups. Personal information has been treated with strict confidentiality and the names and other personal information of the respondents were altered to protect their identity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are their stories so far:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n