Exodus grows as Afghans escape quagmire of violence

KABUL, Aug 19, (Agencies): Fingers nervously skittering over his cellphone, one Afghan man calls a people−smuggler in a third desperate attempt to claim asy− lum abroad, as a record number of people escape escalating violence.

The toppling of the repressive Taleban regime in 2001 had ignited new hope about the future of Afghanistan, bringing waves of Afghan refugees home, but recent years have witnessed a stark rever− sal of that trend.

The snaking queues outside Kabul´s passport office are a totemic indicator that the exodus is gathering fresh momentum as pessimism abounds about the deteriorating war, the tanking econo− my and a government widely derided as lacking direction.

Ashraf, 28, casts worried looks around him as he bolts the door of his spartan home in a crowded Kabul suburb and gets the people−smuggler named Murad, ˆhighly recommended˜ by a friend, on the phone.

ˆMeet me in Nimroz (on the Iran bor− der),˜ Murad says over the crackling line after a lengthy exchange of Islamic greet− ings. ˆThe journey to Tehran will take four or five days ˙ partly by car, partly on foot.˜

ˆI have a handicapped, wheelchair− bound brother,˜ says Ashraf, who allowed AFP to listen to the conversation but requested that his last name be with− held.

ˆFor you it´ll cost 2.2 million Toman ($700); for your brother three million ˙ because he cannot walk,˜ Murad says.

ˆWhat if we are arrested and deport− ed?˜ Ashraf asks, his tone cagey. ˆNo, no,˜ retorts Murad. ˆI´ve been deported before and got duped (by the smuggler),˜ Ashraf insists.

ˆListen brother, I give you 100 percent guarantee.˜

Ashraf, an oil−tanker driver who car− ries supplies from Kabul to military bases in Taleban−prone provinces, was deported ˙ first from Indonesia, next from Malaysia ˙ while attempting to reach Australia in 2012.

Hopeless and broke, his third attempt to flee spotlights the anguished personal choices of Afghan civilians, increasingly caught in the cross−hairs of an ascendant 14−year insurgency.

The number of Afghans seeking asy− lum in industrialised nations has sur− passed all previous years since 2001, with the UN refugee agency reporting a 65 percent surge in applications in 2014 over the previous year.

ˆAlmost everyone I know is leaving or planning to leave ˙ my aunts, my cousins, my neighbour, my friend in Kandahar,˜ said Azeem Raheemi, 48, a transporter for a poultry feed supplier.

Raheemi, a father of three, lives near Shah Shaheed, a working−class Kabul neighbourhood which was hit in a recent wave of fatal bombings.

The truck bombing which engulfed the area in flames was strong enough to tear a massive hole in the ground, evoking comparisons to a meteor strike.

As Raheemi cowered inside his home with his family, his resolve to leave strengthened.

ˆA bomb could explode any minute, anywhere. You could be sitting on the curb in a street and wind up dead,˜ he said.

After cold−calling Western embassies did not bear fruit, he is attempting to get a visa for neighbouring Iran.

Four decades of war has brought endurance, but the expanding conflict, the spectre of the Islamic State along with rampant joblessness and economic dis− tress have whipped up an undercurrent of fear and hopelessness.

The fractious power−sharing govern− ment headed by President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah ˙ seen as a ˆcar with two drivers˜ work− ing sometimes at cross−purposes ˙ is blamed for failing to halt militant attacks.

The desire to leave cuts across eco− nomic classes.

One middle−class family told AFP the decision to relocate to Turkey was affirmed when their friendly neighbour− hood game of ˆcops and robbers˜ mor− phed one day into ˆcops and bombers˜ ˙ with their son playing the suicide attack− er to mock screams and giggles.

For another, it was the growing weari− ness of navigating labyrinthine back routes to avoid possible bombing targets in Kabul ˙ a war−scarred city awash with checkpoints, snipers and surveil− lance blimps.

Meanwhile, ˆthe fight against terror− ism must be the top priority for countries in the region, Ghani said in speech to mark Independence Day on Wednesday.

ˆNobody can force us to accept their demands by threat,˜ he said.

That anger was also felt on the streets of Kabul where the city´s residents cele− brated the holiday wrapped in Afghan flags.