Posted on Sep 21, 2021
His Family Fled Afghanistan. In Turkey, Other Afghans Help Them Build A New Life
1.2K
8
1
6
6
0
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/20/ [login to see] /afghanistan-refugees-flee-taliban-turkey
They had reached the end of the road.
Sitting on a park bench in this small Turkish city on the Black Sea, Sayyid Ali Hussaini held his 9-year-old daughter as she slept. His wife Mahbube huddled next to him as the hours ticked past into the night. He had given all he had to the smugglers who shepherded him and his family out of Afghanistan and across the mountains in a grueling, monthlong journey through Iran to reach Turkey. Now, they weren't sure where they would sleep.
"When it's a matter of life or death for your family, everything changes," Hussaini says.
He walked a few steps away to have a smoke, and a stranger approached his wife and daughter with an unexpected question: "Are you new?"
They had reached the end of the road.
Sitting on a park bench in this small Turkish city on the Black Sea, Sayyid Ali Hussaini held his 9-year-old daughter as she slept. His wife Mahbube huddled next to him as the hours ticked past into the night. He had given all he had to the smugglers who shepherded him and his family out of Afghanistan and across the mountains in a grueling, monthlong journey through Iran to reach Turkey. Now, they weren't sure where they would sleep.
"When it's a matter of life or death for your family, everything changes," Hussaini says.
He walked a few steps away to have a smoke, and a stranger approached his wife and daughter with an unexpected question: "Are you new?"
His Family Fled Afghanistan. In Turkey, Other Afghans Help Them Build A New Life
Posted from npr.org
Turkey
Afghanistan
Refugees
Immigration
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1
1
1
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."As it happened, the man was also an Afghan and lives in Trabzon. He took the little family in, letting them stay in a spare room in a shared apartment. That's where they spent about a week, keeping an eye on the news back home while they navigated the bureaucracy of becoming refugees in Turkey.
"I have a responsibility to my wife and daughter," Hussaini says. "I'll do everything I can to find a safe place for them, to make them happy."
Last month, the United States airlifted more than 122,000 people from Kabul as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. Thousands more fled on foot, across the borders of Pakistan and Iran. Smaller numbers of Afghans have ventured into Turkey in hopes of reaching Europe. In response, Turkish authorities began extending a wall and beefed up patrols along the country's land border with Iran, a common route for asylum-seekers. More than 40,000 Afghans have been prevented from entering the country so far this year, officials say.
Turkey's leader has called on the West to shoulder the responsibility of housing refugees from America's longest war. Turkey already hosts 3.6 million refugees from Syria and 300,000 from Afghanistan, according to official figures."...
..."As it happened, the man was also an Afghan and lives in Trabzon. He took the little family in, letting them stay in a spare room in a shared apartment. That's where they spent about a week, keeping an eye on the news back home while they navigated the bureaucracy of becoming refugees in Turkey.
"I have a responsibility to my wife and daughter," Hussaini says. "I'll do everything I can to find a safe place for them, to make them happy."
Last month, the United States airlifted more than 122,000 people from Kabul as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. Thousands more fled on foot, across the borders of Pakistan and Iran. Smaller numbers of Afghans have ventured into Turkey in hopes of reaching Europe. In response, Turkish authorities began extending a wall and beefed up patrols along the country's land border with Iran, a common route for asylum-seekers. More than 40,000 Afghans have been prevented from entering the country so far this year, officials say.
Turkey's leader has called on the West to shoulder the responsibility of housing refugees from America's longest war. Turkey already hosts 3.6 million refugees from Syria and 300,000 from Afghanistan, according to official figures."...
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google