Farid, journalist from Afghanistan
Farid, refugee journalist from Afghanistan
A brilliant mind, a golden heart and an indomitable will. In Afghanistan he fought for freedom of speech, women's education and human rights. He had to flee to save his own life and 6 years on the run was pure hell for him.
He tells us: “My colleagues and I had a program in our local radio studio called ‘Hope and Peace in Afghanistan’, where we called on the opponents of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to join the peace process to move the country forward together through development, progress, education, science and technology. All my efforts were for all people in the society in which I lived. Being a journalist means fighting for the empowerment of society through science, knowledge and peace, and fighting for the rights of all citizens. I have done these things in my country. But unfortunately I didn’t succeed. They bombed our radio station and threatened me with death.
”In October 22, after hearing the news: “Naked and some injured, almost 100 migrants are said to have been driven across the border river Evros, from Turkey to Greece... Frontex has now confirmed the case”… Guardian article, he wrote the following article:
About the situation at Europe’s External Borders
I am very sad about this ominous and deadly situation at Europe’s external borders. You know, that refugees are not criminals, but often they have no choice and are forced to flee. They need solidarity and help. Nobody wants to leave their home country. But life-threatening situations force people to choose this harsh and humiliating path.
We live in an age of dying humanity. Humanity has given way to barbarism. Which way is this world going? Human life has no value anymore. Life in this world consists of killing and barbarism. It is full of cruelty to our fellow human beings. Unfortunately, the news of this tragedy was neither the first nor will it be the last. These tragedies happen everywhere. Here both the Turkish and the oppressive Greek governments are to blame and they have committed the unforgivable crime of killing innocent people on their borders. You see how cruel the Turkish government is, that they sent people to Greece without shoes and clothes in the cold of winter and on top of that they were brutally beaten until they died from the cold and abuse.
We were born and cast out in a world where humanity no longer seems to have love and dignity. Refugees at the EU's external borders are exposed to terrible suffering these days. How long will European politicians keep asylum seekers at their external borders? Asylum seekers are on a dangerous path and they risk their lives along the way. They try to enter EU countries and seek asylum, which is an inalienable human right! Unfortunately, systematic violence against asylum seekers at the EU's external borders continues.
The Balkan route
On the other hand, asylum seekers are forcefully pushed back to Bosnia. I call on EU politicians to intervene! EU politicians must create safe passages for all migrants!, build reception centers! and help relocate all these desperate ones! Refugees from war-torn and devastated countries need help, especially from those nations that were complicit in those wars. Throughout history, governments have made little effort to establish justice and peace. And often we have testified how they crushed people's pride - and shattered their dreams...You do it when you snuff out someone's candle of hope, when you kill someone and let them drown in the sea. Even if you close your eyes and ears that you neither see nor hear their suffering. I want to know which sky you stretch your hands to? The Afghan people are being killed by terrorist groups every day in Afghanistan. Others beat and torture refugees at Europe's external borders. They are harassed, insulted and beaten by the EU border police. How do you, as a European citizen, feel about this violence? I call on the politicians of the EU Member States to protect asylum seekers from dangerous routes, because their lives are in danger at the European external borders. Their human rights are being violated!
What does the legacy of the Holocaust mean to you?
What does the legacy of the Holocaust mean to you? Why is it important to remember the Holocaust? What has the world learned?
On January 27, the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism, the victims of the Holocaust are commemorated. - On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp was liberated by Soviet forces. Since 2005, this day has been officially recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day, people around the world commemorate the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the countless lives that were forever changed by this genocide.
Why do the people of the world remember this day? What is the message of this heartbreaking incident for us?
Let's get back to the situation at the European external borders. The situation of displaced people at the EU's external borders is a reality - even on the day when leading politicians and EU politicians commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. But unfortunately these European politicians ignore the situation of refugees in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and the Greek islands, and do not even comment on the actions of the Croatian police who brutally and inhumanely beat refugees trying to cross the borders. (This is not about a comparison. It's about humanity towards all people)
What is the message of this sad day?
The message of this sad day for us and the next generation is, that no superpower in the world will be sovereign and stable. That only through unity and solidarity among all people of this world can supremacy and racism be overcome! The message of this sad day for us is that we should fight for unity, solidarity, peace, justice and equality, that we should strive to transform hate into love and respect, to love one another and to live together in unity and solidarity. Without hate and racism.
My hope
My hope is, that European politicians will try to find a solution to this crisis of the refugee situation at Europe's external borders. I thank all people in different countries of Europe who are fighting for human rights and refugees!
My final word is, that the strength of all of us and you lies in unity and solidarity and common peaceful resistance.
When the Taliban came to power again in Afghanistan
When the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, all social, economic and political spheres of that country faced serious problems. In the past year, the Taliban government has been unable to provide the most basic social services to the people. But in contrast, there have been blatant human rights violations: the disappearances of former government employees, the arrests of women, house-to-house searches, the repression of minorities, and many other human rights violations that have been noted to be on the rise. In fact, much of the current damage is the product of the tragic and unchanging self-righteousness of the Taliban, whose power was strengthened by the Doha Accords – a US-Taliban peace deal to end the war in Afghanistan that has been going on since 2001. The unrealistic and destructive thinking of those who drafted the contract is partly responsible for the consequences. The republican order, in which the United States has played a prominent role for the past 20 years, shattered due to the United States' hasty decision to leave the country and the search for a solution to widespread financial corruption and the tyranny of political agents in the country Presidential Palace, which was nicknamed "Three Republics" by opponents. The pro-government circle gradually collapsed from within, and with the president's flight and the army's failure to resist, the scenario was complete. Finally, the Taliban ruled Afghanistan for the second time. This predetermined surrender is a return to a dark past that has forced millions of people to endure poverty, misery, migration and the loss of all their hard-earned possessions.
Afghan women
Meanwhile, women inevitably suffered far more humiliation and injury, in keeping with the tradition of disqualification promoted and written throughout this country's history. And the crooked roof of equality, democracy, and defense of women's rights and status bequeathed by the United States and its Western partners will collapse until the last stone falls on them. Following the Taliban conquest, Afghan women were stripped of their identity in all aspects of personal and social life and suffered exorbitant and in many cases irreparable harm. Women, who are captured, tortured and forced to give false testimony by the Taliban, stand up and demand their rights. What an enormous amount of insults, pain and humiliation is inflicted on women! What does that do to their individual and family life? What will be the mental state of these women? They have neither a place to stay nor a job. After a few headlines and a little media frenzy, the world seems to have forgotten them. It seems neither profitable nor attractive for the media or human rights organizations to continue reporting on it. But I am telling you: It is Afghan women who are tortured, threatened and killed every day. This is the end of normal human life for the Afghan people, but especially for Afghan women and girls.
Farid Ahmad Ghazi.
Updated at: 31.10.2023
Created at: 14.3.2023