Children left to fend for themselves after being deported to Afghanistan
Afghan children seeking asylum in Europe are being returned to the war-ravaged country with no safeguards or support, according to a report commissioned by Save the Children.
Last year, nearly 44,000 Afghans filed for asylum in Europe. The exact number of children repatriated from Europe to Afghanistan is unknown, but evidence collected by the think tank Samuel Hall – which wrote the report, titled From Europe to Afghanistan: the Experience of Child Returnees – suggests the experience is a harrowing one.
Of 57 interviewed child returnees, nearly three quarters did not feel safe during the return process. More than half reported violence and coercion and nearly half arrived in Afghanistan alone or were escorted by police.
Only three children interviewed received a specific reintegration plan and assistance once in Afghanistan.
One 19-year-old man, who was 17 when he was deported from Norway, told how he was forcefully taken from Norway after joining his sister, who had been granted asylum in the country.
“My sister was separated from us in Turkey, forced by the smugglers. After one and a half, two years, we found out that she was in Norway.
“During this time, we were in Greece. We had to sleep in parks – it was a difficult life there,” he said.
He arrived in Norway when he was 12 thanks to the family reunion programme. Five years later, he was deported with the rest of his family.
“The day of my brother’s birthday, my sister came to celebrate.
“Around midnight, about 15 police officers came and surrounded the house. They told us we had to pack our things and go back to Afghanistan. We were all shocked. We were crying,” he said.
He recalled being so depressed that he “could not think” and attempted to commit suicide the day before repatriation.
The boy is one of eight children – of the 57 interviewed – who were born in Iran or Pakistan and had never been to Afghanistan.
Return and re-integration have different meanings for these children as they prepare to go to a country that has never been home, the report found.
The family, of Afghani origin, had suffered threats and discrimination in Iran, which prompted the decision to emigrate to Europe.
Norway is not part of the European Union, but it is associated with the EU through its membership in the European Economic Area, which grants it access to the single market.
Similar cases involving children deported from EU member states, including Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden, were also documented.
Of the interviewed children, only 10 neither wished nor expected to re-migrate in the next year, which suggests that the support necessary to ensure sustainable returns for children are not in place.
While 45 children had attended school in Europe, only 16 were attending school in Afghanistan.
Human rights organisations have denounced the return of Afghan refugees, claiming that the institutions remain “wilfully blind” to the plight of Afghan nationals.
Save the Children, with other organisations, has called for a moratorium on the repatriation of Afghan asylum seekers.