After Return

11. Plans and reflections
Advice to other young
people
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Weigh up the options carefully
Leave Afghanistan
Don’t leave Afghanistan
Unclear
Figure 37. Advice to other young people about
leaving Afghanistan
1
“If he has problems then he should leave
Afghanistan. If they don’t have any problem they
shouldn’t go. The journey is very dangerous… 99
percent danger. If people don’t have problem
then they would not put their lives in danger at first
place. So then it is better to get out of here and find
somewhere safer to live.” (R25, ILD)
The challenge of weighing up both the risks of the
journey and the possibility of eventual forced return
with the potential to live in peace and freedom
leads seven young returnees to simply say they
would explain the reality to others but not advise
them what to do as each situation is unique. “I
can’t say nothing,” argued (R01, ILD), “because if I
tell him to go to the UK they will just send him back,
but if I tell him to stay maybe his life is in danger, so I
can’t tell him nothing!”
Advising others to leave
Young returnees were asked what advice they
would give to a boy of about 13 years old who was
considering leaving Afghanistan, as they had done
many years before. Five said they would advise
others not to try to leave Afghanistan, because they
would be unlikely to be granted refugee status, and
because the journey itself was too dangerous. One
young person explained that:
“I will them that going to UK is a do or die situation.
What I mean is that whether you will get to UK or you
will lose your life. I saw many of my friends who died
on the way in front of my eyes. When I was going
to from Turkey to Greece, we were 22 people on a
small tiny boat. And in the kind of conditions we got
in Greece is unexplainable really.” (R19, IM1)
Five young returnees stated that they would
nevertheless encourage other young teenagers to
leave Afghanistan for a country where they could
both be physically safe and find the work they
needed for physical survival. One young person
stated that “there is no better place than UK” (R24,
IM1). Two others, though still encouraging people to
leave, emphasized the possible negative outcomes
of going to the UK, with one explaining that “It’s only
good if they accept your case” (R18, ILD).
The words of one returnee sum up the frequently
reported conviction that if someone is in danger in
Afghanistan, it is worth risking the dangers to travel
somewhere safer:
Photo credit: mobyhill via Foter.com /CC BY-NC-SA
Conclusions
Young returnees have struggled to imagine or
create a future for themselves in Afghanistan,
with happy memories of their formative years
in the UK making their current reality feel
even more difficult. It is worth noting how far
removed their circumstances on return are
from the UK government’s ambition to “give
care leavers the same level of care and
support that other young people receive from
their parents” 62 and how distant they are from
UK initiatives which have been created “to
support them [care leavers] into and through
their early adult lives and into more secure
and settled futures”. 63 Seeking more settled
futures for themselves, young returnees have
articulated their desire to leave Afghanistan
again, in spite of the risks of the journey.
62 HM Government. 2014:3
63 New Beginnings. 2016.
After Return 53