Please don’t deport me back to join the Taliban
Campaign to keep Afghan refugee in Birmingham home
CAMPAIGNERS are fighting to save a young man whose brother and father were murdered by the Taliban from deportation back to Afghanistan.
A new campaign by charity Migrant Voice centres around Bashir Ahmadzai who fled a life of war and persecution in Khost, Afghanistan aged just 14.
Managing to avoid Taliban recruitment, Mr Ahmadzai claimed UK asylum in 2009 and was granted temporary status until his 18th birthday.
Mr Ahmadzai’s foster mother, who took him under her wing, described him as “part of the family” and “genuine, polite, respectful, caring and kind”.
But now 26, the Handsworth resident, who currently in shared accommodation, has spent the last eight years fighting to live here.
“I don’t want to be sent back and made to join the Taliban,” he said. “I don’t want to kill anyone or be killed, I want peace and refuge.
“That’s why I came here, my life was in danger. It’s not safe for me in Kabul where the Home Office wants to send me.”
The former Grace Academy, Solihull, pupil was studying IT at college
I don’t want to kill anyone or be killed, I want peace and refuge Bashir Ahmadzai
when immigration officers barged through his door.
“Within a month of rejecting my application to stay longer, they came knocking,” said Mr Ahmadzai, whose traumatic childhood has led to bouts of depression. My life came crashing down. I had aspirations to be a webdesigner. I had dreams.
“They told me, ‘you are going back to Afghanistan’ and sent me to a detention centre for five months. None of my friends knew where I was, my flat was taken. I was so lonely. At the time my lawyer was lodging appeals for me to stay but, one after another, they were rejected.”
When asked why his Home Office battle has dragged on for years, Mr Ahmadzai said: “The process takes a long time. In 2018 I submitted fresh evidence for my right to stay here, but that was refused in December, 2019.
“Then lockdown started, everything closed down and I had to stay in people’s living rooms because I was homeless.”
In 2020, Mr Ahmadzai connected with charities and volunteers who promised to support him every step of the way, including financially.
The charity’s campaign, ‘Bashir Must Stay’, has almost 1,000 signatures.
“It means everything to know people want me to be here and to be safe,” added Mr Ahmadzai.
“Birmingham is my home and I don’t want to leave.”
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “We are reforming the asylum system so it is fair but firm, welcoming those who come to the UK through safe and legal routes.”