In 2016, a young Afghan translator named Omar (a pseudonym) made the harrowing journey to Europe. He was accompanied part of the way by Matthieu Aikins, an award-winning Canadian journalist who had lived and worked in Kabul. Aikins documented their experiences (often by mobile phone) and spent five years putting together this powerful and compelling account which deserves to be read by anyone involved in immigration, refugee rights and asylum. Aikins takes us through his first meeting with Omar, who he employed for a journalistic assignment in Kandahar. Omar worked as an interpreter for the Special Forces, USAID and various demining contractors. When the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated, Omar thought he would be accepted by America through the Special Immigrant Visa program. But he is refused, because he hadn’t retained the necessary paperwork, and is left with the same option as his mother and sister – paying smugglers to get him to Europe. From the start, Aikins knew he wanted to accompany his friend. He presumed he would pass as a fellow Afghani: ‘With my dark hair and Asian eyes, I had crossed a color line somewhere over the Atlantic … in northern Afghanistan, with its mix of Hazara, Tajiks and Uzbeks, I’d found my phenotype. People saw their face in mine.’ However, Aikins has to wait several months for Omar who is reluctant to leave his girlfriend, Laila, convinced her family will find someone for her to marry in his absence. He is determined to make a future for himself in Europe so that she can join him there. However, as Europe’s borders shrink, Omar’s options become increasingly limited and he ends up at the mercy of smugglers. Throughout, Aikins includes many damning examples of the West’s political decisions which have contributed to an unimaginable loss of life amongst asylum seekers, and mediates on the inequities that cause movement between countries. Early on, he observes: ‘people migrate because of the difference between here and there. Our world is divided between plenty and poverty, and just as a minority in each nation owns the majority of wealth, so too have rich countries consumed most of the planet’s resources.’ He reminds us: ‘More than half of global wealth is concentrated in North America and Europe, home to fifteen percent of the population.’ Listing the prohibitive cost of coveted visas, he observes that emigration is easy for the rich because citizenship is ‘for sale’ and with ‘enough capital’, you can afford to become a ‘citizen of the world.’ Aikens spells out the predicament that has led to a catch 22 situation for many like Omar. For those without money, ‘a cordon of visas and laws regulating air travel’ keep refugees out and ensures ‘the more likely a person is to seek asylum in the West, the less likely they are able to board a flight there.’ Omar employs a smuggler to help him travel overland, more than 2000 miles, to Istanbul. He pays to cross the border into Iran but when he discovers that the smuggler has arranged a different route through Pakistan, he refuses to risk the perilous journey through the desert. Eventually, he can afford to fly with a legal visa to Iran and, from there, he attempts the mountainous crossing to Turkey with a friend. Aikins travels to Istanbul separately but unexpectedly finds himself persona non grata when he enters without his press ID and is deported. He has to make his own illegal and dangerous journey through Eastern Europe to meet Omar, burning his passport in order to pose as an undocumented Afghan. From Turkey, the friends cross the Mediterranean in an overcrowded boat and end up in the notorious, overcrowded Moria camp on the island of Lesbos. Akins describes appalling conditions: ‘the inmates had to compete for food, shelter and medical care, but what they most wanted was to leave.’ There’s also a ‘pecking order’: At that time Syrians were given priority, Afghans were in the middle while ‘people from countries like Senegal or Pakistan were considered economic migrants unless they could prove otherwise.’ They could wait months for a decision. The friends manage to escape the camp during the day and visit the harbour area, trying to find a smuggler they trust to get them to the mainland. They watch as friends try and fail to leave. Finally, Omar manages to fly to Athens on a fake Lithuanian ID card, and there they reunite in a squat for refugees and activists while waiting to complete the final leg of their journey through Fortress Europe. This fascinating account is timely as we witness another wave of refugees seeking sanctuary in Europe. Many have observed that the welcome given to the pale-skinned refugees from Ukraine is in stark contrast to the treatment of those fleeing other continents. We are morally and legally obliged to help all those fleeing war, poverty, persecution or other catastrophes. The UK’s decision to deport vulnerable people to Rwanda as they await to hear their asylum claim is monstrous. Aikins’ urgent book reminds us of the various ways we let down our fellow humans by denying them the right to live in safety, freedom and dignity.
Lucy Popescu’s books include A Country of Refuge, an anthology of writing on refugees and asylum seekers and A Country to Call Home, focusing on the experiences of young refugees. Lucy mentors members of Write to Life (Freedom from Torture). She reviews books for The Observer, FT and TLS among other publications.