Settled for the night on the outskirts of the Hazreti-Ömer mosque, in downtown Van, the large city in eastern Turkey, a group of young Afghans share a frugal meal in the twilight. Arrived illegally from neighboring Iran just a few days ago, they rail against the smugglers who abandoned them in Van after promising to transport them to Ankara or Istanbul. “They treat us like cattle and steal our money”, explains Hossein, 21, the smartest of the group.
Originally from Ghazni, the young man sees no future in Afghanistan. “There is no work, the pandemic has not helped. The return of the Taliban is the coup de grace. “They are going to take Kabul, that’s for sure”, warns Rahmatollah, a young teenager who arrived illegally a few days ago from Mazar-i-Charif with his sister, his brother-in-law and their four children.
The family say they paid the smugglers a “Package”, comprising the clandestine crossing of the Iran-Turkey border as well as a one-way minibus ride to Konya, south of Ankara. But once the first step was taken, the smugglers accommodated them in an abandoned house in the middle of the fields and did not return.
Muhammet, 26, the father of the family, is chomping at the bit. Staying in Van, 40 kilometers from the Iranian border, is exposing himself to being sent back to Iran, which he does not want at any cost. He was planning to go, not to Europe, but to Konya, where he is sure to find work.
Turkey, seen as a land of plenty
He has already made the trip once a few years ago to this city in deep Anatolia, where, thanks to the help of friendly migrants, he managed to get himself hired as a day laborer on construction sites. After having amassed a small nest egg, he returned to Mazar-i-Charif to look for his wife, Maryam, their four children as well as two teenagers, his brothers-in-law, to bring them back to Turkey, which he sees as a land of plenty. .
“At home, it’s war. We are afraid for our lives. I sold my house for $ 4000 and we were on our way. It took us a month to get here ”, explains Muhammet, eyes red with fatigue, from the square next to the mosque.
Outside, he sleeps badly, the nights are cool, blankets are missing. While talking, he watches over one of his sons who is sleeping under a tree. “The little ones died of fatigue”, he sighs, nervously fiddling with the toy of his last born, 5 months old.
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