Afghans hide in Pakistan as they wait for German visas

DW (English)

Afghan refugees in Pakistan live under the constant threat of deportation. Many are anxiously waiting to move to Germany, fearing that they would be killed by the Taliban if they were sent back to their homeland. DW met one family in hiding in Islamabad.

Transcript

00:00For Sharif, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, it's a never-ending wait.

00:04He has been desperately trying to reach Germany.

00:07His application to move to Germany has been approved, but has yet to be processed by German authorities.

00:13Sharif has been hiding from police in Islamabad.

00:16They recently raided his home and tried to detain him and his family.

00:21Since then, he has been hiding in different locations.

00:25We are facing many problems here.

00:26The biggest is the risk of deportation.

00:29The police come to the refugee houses every day and whoever they catch, they take away.

00:34If we are found during a search and sent back to Afghanistan, I'm 100% sure I will be killed.

00:41Sharif was a professor at an Afghan university that had a partnership with a university in Germany.

00:50In 2016, I travelled to Germany for a two-week work assignment.

00:54After returning, the Taliban accused me of spying with foreigners and of trying to change the Afghans' way of thinking.

01:01It became another reason they started targeting me.

01:05The Taliban threatened me many times with letters and messages.

01:09Until in 2018, they carried out an armed attack against me.

01:13When the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, things became much tougher.

01:21In this footage, we see the Taliban reading his home and taking away his brother,

01:25who also previously worked for a German institution.

01:28The Taliban accused him of spying for Germany.

01:31They later killed him.

01:34Sharif, his wife and children eventually moved to Pakistan last year.

01:38The parents worry for their kids, who are unable to go to school in Pakistan due to fear of being caught.

01:48When we arrived, our only hope was that our children could study and build a better future.

01:54But one year of our lives has already been wasted.

01:57Although I try to teach them at home,

01:59my biggest request is that we be transferred to Germany as soon as possible

02:03so that our children can continue their education and not lose their time.

02:07I never want to return to Afghanistan

02:10because there we will be killed and the future of our children will be destroyed.

02:16The family continues to live under constant fear.

02:20Every knock on the door reminds them that security is still out of reach.

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