Afghan refugee says he is 'lucky to be alive' on reaching Germany
Published: 04:08 PM,Aug 29,2021 | EDITED : 07:08 PM,Aug 29,2021
Soldiers from German Bundeswehr arrive at the airport in Wunstorf, northern Germany at the end of a military evacuation operation. - AFP
KARLSRUHE, Germany: In the image, women wade knee-deep in filthy water, avoiding a roll of barbed wire while soldiers look on from behind a fence. The photograph was taken by an Afghan translator as he boarded a flight at Kabul airport, fleeing his country following the takeover by the Taliban.
The 29-year-old spent a decade working for Germany's Bundeswehr in Kabul, Kunduz and throughout the country.
'Wherever they needed me,' says the man, who did not want to be named for security reasons.
He and his wife have just reached Karlsruhe, Germany, where they are staying in temporary accommodation for refugees.
'I am lucky to be alive,' he said. However, he feels unwell, having barely slept for the past weeks, fearful of the Taliban and reprisals for aiding the German armed forces.
He had been trying to organise his escape from the country, like thousands of others who worked supporting Western forces.
Here in Karlsruhe, he is going to try and relax a bit, he said. 'And then we'll see what happens.'
He has not received any medical or psychological support, he said, after his life-or-death efforts to gain safe passage.
He said he was given a visa in Afghanistan by the Bundeswehr and had documents from all the years he worked with them. However, when he tried to reach his contacts in the German army after the Taliban takeover, he was either unable to reach them, or they put the phone down.
He doubts technical problems were to blame, saying he and his friends had tried repeatedly to get through.
He, his wife and friends hid in a sewer where they stayed overnight, hoping that the soldiers at the airport would keep them safe from the Taliban. He said he feared they would kill him if they found his German documents.
Recalling the sewer, he said it was a black 'river full of toilet water.'
Finally soldiers called his name and he was able to continue to the airport. He boarded a plane to Uzbekistan, where German forces set up a base for airlifting refugees - one of around 5,300 people of many nationalities to be flown out by German forces.
He then flew to Frankfurt, then reached the south-western city of Karlsruhe on Wednesday, though he does not know anyone there. The destination was 'a German decision,' he says.
The Afghan is the first local employee from the country to reach Karlsruhe from Kabul, according to a statement by Mayor Frank Mentrup. 'The current reports from the United Nations on the situation in Afghanistan provide an idea of what the Taliban's takeover of power means, especially for vulnerable groups of people,' Mentrup said.
He has a small flat with a kitchen and shower in Karlsruhe. Meanwhile his thoughts are still of his homeland.
He managed to make it out before the terrorist attacks at the airport in Kabul. But his parents are still in Mazar-i-Sharif and he is in touch with his father, he said.
He doesn't think his family will suffer reprisals for his work for the Bundeswehr, he says.
A staff member at the special accommodation, Piero Tonlorenzi, says there is a mood of sadness as those from Afghanistan think about the people they left behind and how to handle the next phase of their lives. - dpa
The 29-year-old spent a decade working for Germany's Bundeswehr in Kabul, Kunduz and throughout the country.
'Wherever they needed me,' says the man, who did not want to be named for security reasons.
He and his wife have just reached Karlsruhe, Germany, where they are staying in temporary accommodation for refugees.
'I am lucky to be alive,' he said. However, he feels unwell, having barely slept for the past weeks, fearful of the Taliban and reprisals for aiding the German armed forces.
He had been trying to organise his escape from the country, like thousands of others who worked supporting Western forces.
Here in Karlsruhe, he is going to try and relax a bit, he said. 'And then we'll see what happens.'
He has not received any medical or psychological support, he said, after his life-or-death efforts to gain safe passage.
He said he was given a visa in Afghanistan by the Bundeswehr and had documents from all the years he worked with them. However, when he tried to reach his contacts in the German army after the Taliban takeover, he was either unable to reach them, or they put the phone down.
He doubts technical problems were to blame, saying he and his friends had tried repeatedly to get through.
He, his wife and friends hid in a sewer where they stayed overnight, hoping that the soldiers at the airport would keep them safe from the Taliban. He said he feared they would kill him if they found his German documents.
Recalling the sewer, he said it was a black 'river full of toilet water.'
Finally soldiers called his name and he was able to continue to the airport. He boarded a plane to Uzbekistan, where German forces set up a base for airlifting refugees - one of around 5,300 people of many nationalities to be flown out by German forces.
He then flew to Frankfurt, then reached the south-western city of Karlsruhe on Wednesday, though he does not know anyone there. The destination was 'a German decision,' he says.
The Afghan is the first local employee from the country to reach Karlsruhe from Kabul, according to a statement by Mayor Frank Mentrup. 'The current reports from the United Nations on the situation in Afghanistan provide an idea of what the Taliban's takeover of power means, especially for vulnerable groups of people,' Mentrup said.
He has a small flat with a kitchen and shower in Karlsruhe. Meanwhile his thoughts are still of his homeland.
He managed to make it out before the terrorist attacks at the airport in Kabul. But his parents are still in Mazar-i-Sharif and he is in touch with his father, he said.
He doesn't think his family will suffer reprisals for his work for the Bundeswehr, he says.
A staff member at the special accommodation, Piero Tonlorenzi, says there is a mood of sadness as those from Afghanistan think about the people they left behind and how to handle the next phase of their lives. - dpa