I'd rather sleep on the street than be forced onto the Government's Bibby Stockholm barge.
As soon as I read these words earlier this month in a letter addressed to me from the. How could anyone think a giant floating prison housing vulnerable and traumatised people is a good idea?in Afghanistan all my life. In fact, I recall being as young as five years old and being terrified that they’d hurt me or my family.
So when I got offered a scholarship to study a civil engineering university course abroad, I took it. After several years, I came back to my home country and started working with the United Nations, helping to build local infrastructure in Kabul.I later joined a company that had several contracts with NATO, establishing things like rehabilitation centres for people living with disabilities, as well as projects to undermine the terrorist organisation in the country.
Thankfully, I managed to secure a visa for Pakistan, so – after a long process – I was able to leave the country. Packing up my life and having to leave Afghanistan brought up a mix of emotions – from sadness to relief.I stayed in Pakistan for over six months, but then I started to hear of Afghans being captured and taken back home or killed on the spot.
I genuinely didn’t know I had to apply for asylum as soon as I landed at the airport. To claim asylum, I thought I had to go to an immigration office and fill forms like at visa centres. I was also dealing with long-term sciatica and kidney conditions, which got worse when I came to the UK and delayed my asylum claim for a couple of weeks.
Then in January this year, I had my initial meeting with the Home Office to present my case for asylum. This is where I was declared illegal and liable to deportation because I was told that my intention was to claim asylum, but didn’t mention it to the immigration officer at the airport and entered as a student.Platform is the home of Metro.co.uk's first-person and opinion pieces, devoted to giving a platform to underheard and underrepresented voices in the media.
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