It’s been three years and again. I’ve no photos but have hope. Sometimes it
TEENAGE ASYLUM SEEKER REVEALS MOTHER’S DAY
It has been more than three years since Yaar Popalzai saw his mother and he does not know if he ever will again.
The teenage asylum seeker did not have time to say goodbye to mum Bashira before fleeing his home in northern Afghanistan.
He said: “Everything happened so quickly. I thought I would see her again. I thought she would be coming as well.
“I did not know it would be so long. I would give anything, everything, to see her now.”
Yaar is one of 150 young asylum seekers and trafficking victims at risk of becoming Scotland’s hidden children. But, thanks to a guardianship scheme, he’s found a mother figure in Catriona MacSween.
There is no Mother’s Day in Afghanistan but Yaar, who is living in Glasgow as he seeks asylum in Scotland, admits he misses his own every day.
He said: “I have no photographs of her. There were no cameras in my village but I have memories.
“I can remember kneeling beside her and her hand would be on the back of my head, stroking my hair. Sometimes I can still feel her hand there.
“I have many memories, every second I was with her. I remember bringing her wood. I remember her cooking for me. She cooked ever y thing – everything she made was the best . I have never tasted food like hers.
“I try not to think of her too often because it makes me sad. I haven’t seen her or spoken to her since I left. Aid workers went to my village and looked for her for me but they were told she no longer lives there.
“It is a dangerous place. There are many guns and violence. I do not know where my mum is…or the rest of my family.
“I do not know if I will see her again. I hope so, very much. I have to hope. Sometimes it feels hope is all I have.”
Yaar, who believes he is 17 but has no birth certificate, said his father was killed when he was two and he moved with his mother to Kunduz province.
They lived with his uncle, his mum’s brother, in a village with 200 houses, where Yaar, who is an only child, helped him grow vegetables.
But his life changed forever after he started working for a commander of the Arbaki, an anti-Taliban militia, helping with his cows and making tea for guests.
He said: “The Taliban came to my home and took me away. They held me for six days but then, one day, when they asked me to fetch water, I ran to the road and a car took me back to my village. My uncle said the Taliban would be coming for me. He said the Arbaki would be coming for me too because they would now think I was Taliban.
“He said I would bring trouble and had to leave, that I couldn’t live there any more.
“There is a lot of violence there, a lot of guns, a lot of fighting. At night, you hear the voice of the guns. You should not go out after dark.
“My uncle said the Taliban were coming, the militia were coming, and I must go or they would kill me and kill them. Then he got a person to take me away.” Bundled into a car, Yaar – lying by the rear seat with a rug thrown over him – began a torturous, confusing journey that would eventually leave him on the streets of Scotland. But he was unable to speak a word of English and was completely alone.
Three years on, Yaar says he hopes to build a new life in Scotland after learning English with the help of a supportive teacher, helped by watching TV quiz shows such as Pointless and The Chase.
He said: “I want to learn. When it came to the summer holidays, I asked my teacher for extra homework.”
Yaar, who is in fifth year at a Glasgow
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