Greener pastures: The road to Europe

With the refugee crisis at its peak, Pakistanis hop on the bandwagon of asylum-seekers

PESHAWAR: With a worldwide debate raging on accommodating refugees from Syria and Iraq, word in Peshawar is that now is the time to get to Europe.

Khan Ali was recently deported from Turkey as he was trying to board a raft and cross into Greece. “It’s worth it," he says when asked if there are any guarantees that he would reach Europe alive. "I had waited seven months. If only the container had not stopped midway this time," Ali tells The Express Tribune, adding he’s tried to cross into Europe twice since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.



Ali, who is in his early 20s, was deported from Turkey in September. His initial contact with the human traffickers, locally known as ‘Kachakbars’, was through mutual friends who had already crossed into Europe. The clients are referred to as ‘Marghai’, which means ‘sparrow’ in Pashto.

"The money is kept with a third party. It is either deducted or returned, depending on whether the client manages to reach their destination," he explains. In Ali’s case, the trafficker was an Afghan and the middleman a Pakistani.

Thirty asylum seekers who have managed to make it to different parts of Europe are from a single locality on the periphery of Peshawar, adjacent to Kohat Road. Those who have crossed over have now become an inspiration for others to follow suit.

Four of Sangeen Khan’s brothers have made it to Europe so far while the fifth has crossed into Turkey, the eldest of whom is 26 and the youngest 15. Sangeen has a family of 11, including three sisters. “There is no future here,” he says. “The only reason to send them to Europe is their safety and better financial prospects."

Just as he is outlining the reasons, his phone rings. It’s his youngest brother who has called from Sweden to tell Sangeen immigration authorities conducted a DNA test and concluded that he’s a juvenile. He has now been handed into the custody of a local family there. One would imagine this to be bad news, but Sangeen is relieved. "There was no guarantee that he would make it there alive," he smiles.

Aslam Gul says if you can speak Pashto, chances are that you can declare yourself an Afghan “to gain sympathy”. And this is what he intends to do. Gul has recently acquired a Turkish visa. He’s spent time abroad before, but a failing business and weakening finances left with no option but to consider seeking asylum. "If I have to travel, why not travel to a place where I can later call my family," he says.



"I’ll tell them I was a polio vaccinator," he says, referring to a friend’s relative who had recently sought asylum in Turkey. The person in question told authorities he was a health worker involved in the anti-polio vaccination drive and that his life was in danger in Pakistan. Gul has a similar plan. He wants to get his picture published in a local newspaper feigning to be a polio vaccinator to present that as proof. "Arrangements to cross from Turkey have been made. If they can accommodate so many Syrians, one Pakistani would not make a difference."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2015.