After Return

Data collected demonstrates that in many cases,
these fears are not unfounded. Seven examples are
cited of specific incidents arising due to returnee
status. In one case, a young returnee was held up at
gunpoint by someone who said, “we know you have
come back from UK” (R06, ILD), a second knew of
a “guy [who] had returned from UK voluntarily and
[who] was kidnapped in our area” (R13, IAR), while
a third was warned by relatives not to return to his
home province because his “life would be in danger
if the militant extremist find out I have been to UK
and have returned back. They don’t know what
deportation means! They would kill me on the spot
calling me infidel and spy” (R25, ILD). A fourth young
person told of the abduction by the Taliban of an
older returnee interpreter working with ISAF, and a
fifth of the killing of another older returnee affiliated
with the ANA.
Two examples were given of former unaccompanied
minors being killed for having spent time in a European
country. In one case, a returnee told of his anxiety
after:
“[A] boy who was also deported from UK was killed
in our area. He had newly arrived from UK and was
living peacefully with his family until people found
out about him, though he did not have any enemy
at that time. But he was badly targeted standing
in front of a mosque in the village he was living. I
participated in his funeral and Fatiha.” (R14, ILD)
Photo credit: olaf.kellerhoff viaFoter.com / CC BY-NC
After Return 29