Written by Basir Ahang
Translated by Amin Wahidi
Mohammad Zahir, a thirteen year old Afghan boy who was entering Italy illegally died under truck tyres in one of Venice highways.
It has happened in Orland road of Venice on Wednesday 17 December around 10 p.m.
Many Afghan immigrants who want to enter Italy from Greece but do not have money to pay to the smugglers, they stay back in Patra Port of Greece to place themselves under the trucks that are to be transported towards Italy.
Translated by Amin Wahidi
Mohammad Zahir, a thirteen year old Afghan boy who was entering Italy illegally died under truck tyres in one of Venice highways.
It has happened in Orland road of Venice on Wednesday 17 December around 10 p.m.
Many Afghan immigrants who want to enter Italy from Greece but do not have money to pay to the smugglers, they stay back in Patra Port of Greece to place themselves under the trucks that are to be transported towards Italy.
This long trip which can take up to 48 hours is considered to be a chance of survival for these teenagers because they have no other solutions; and if they would come by the help of the smugglers they would have to pay a sum of 3000 Euros from Greece to Italy.
On the other hand it is worse than Afghanistan for them to be in Greece because as soon as they arrive there, they are being captured and detained by the Greek police for weeks and when the Police mark their fingerprint, issue them a deportation letter and leave them on the streets without any responsibility.
It is said that there are about 2,000 Afghans asylum seekers in Greece and among them there are about 200 families. They live in a very bad situation as they sleep in the parks and on the roads. Only a few of them have received some tents. On the other hand the behavior of the Greek Police is reportedly very violent with them. One of these asylum seekers has said to his interview with Italian RAI TV that; “the way, the Greek police behave is worse than behavior of the Taliban, because when the Taliban use violence, at least we know their language and the reason why they do it, but in Greece not knowing the language we face the violence of the Greek police without knowing the reason.”
The Greek police are reported to be very violent, so every day many people are found broken – bones and there is no point to pursue and investigate it.
The Greek police are reported to be very violent, so every day many people are found broken – bones and there is no point to pursue and investigate it.
The health condition is very bad as well among them and many people are affected by tuberculoses, while most of them are under 18 and based on international immigration laws, the governments are responsible to provide these young immigrants living and studying facilities but unfortunately some European countries including Greece do not care about this part of the international laws.
Even in Italy that boasts to be the host of the highest number of refugees among the European countries, in practice, this part of the international law is not considered seriously, for instance although there are around 3500 camps and reception centers for the under 18 refugees and asylums seekers throughout the country, about 2,000 immigrants and asylum seekers are without shelter and have to sleep on the roads or in the parks out of which around 400 are the Afghans who are mostly in Rome and Milan. Based on a statistic of 2007, there are about 4500 Afghan refugees in Italy.
Recognition of the corpse
Hamid Ahmadi an Afghan filmmaker who lives in Venice says; “one day after this incident, a responsible of the Venice municipality called me and let me know about it, but still it was difficult to find the identity of the person, because the only identification document with the corpse was a deportation paper of Greece that was blood - stained and illegible, just half of the photo was all visible.”
“Four days after that, the Venice municipality has officially invited me to the police office to help them identify this corpse. When I went there, they had already found a small notebook in the pocket of the victim but they thought this young person would be an Arab as they didn’t know the similarity of the Persian and Arabic transcription.”
How sore it is when a person is recognizable only with a note that is found in his pocket. Saying this story Hamid sighed and was to cry for this painful story.
He says; “when the trucks full of exported goods are parked in the harbor to be shipped for Italy from Patra harbor Greece, these people place themselves in a part of the vehicle, even below the body frame of the vehicle so when the trucks arrive in Italy they would get off and run away there for seeking asylum. But when these vehicles are on board, the people in the bottom part would get hurt or being killed as this late incident, that is when life is in risk and people accept any kinds of risks and perils.
A real tragedy!
Indeed it is a real tragedy when a thirteen year old Afghan child finds no chance of survival in his country and risks his life in such a trip; may be in this trip there was 90 percent chance of survival for him but in his country death was chasing him for 100 percent.
Hamid Ahmadi says again; “after returning from police office, I wrote a letter to Venice municipality and explained the existing realities of Afghanistan for them.”
A part of Hamid’s letter to the Mayor of Venice
“Dear Mr. Mayor, one day you asked me about the situation of Afghanistan but I couldn’t and didn’t want to answer your question on that day because the situation in Afghanistan is worse and more complicated than only a war. And on that day I wasn’t ready to explain to you the thousand kinds of problems that the Afghans have.
Today after calling Zahir’s father, I found myself compel to answer your question. This is the situation of Afghanistan and tens of people who have the ability to escape, they abandon the country on daily basis to save their lives. This is the situation of Afghanistan when a thirteen years old child accepts risks of being killed under a truck!”
Even in Italy that boasts to be the host of the highest number of refugees among the European countries, in practice, this part of the international law is not considered seriously, for instance although there are around 3500 camps and reception centers for the under 18 refugees and asylums seekers throughout the country, about 2,000 immigrants and asylum seekers are without shelter and have to sleep on the roads or in the parks out of which around 400 are the Afghans who are mostly in Rome and Milan. Based on a statistic of 2007, there are about 4500 Afghan refugees in Italy.
Recognition of the corpse
Hamid Ahmadi an Afghan filmmaker who lives in Venice says; “one day after this incident, a responsible of the Venice municipality called me and let me know about it, but still it was difficult to find the identity of the person, because the only identification document with the corpse was a deportation paper of Greece that was blood - stained and illegible, just half of the photo was all visible.”
“Four days after that, the Venice municipality has officially invited me to the police office to help them identify this corpse. When I went there, they had already found a small notebook in the pocket of the victim but they thought this young person would be an Arab as they didn’t know the similarity of the Persian and Arabic transcription.”
How sore it is when a person is recognizable only with a note that is found in his pocket. Saying this story Hamid sighed and was to cry for this painful story.
He says; “when the trucks full of exported goods are parked in the harbor to be shipped for Italy from Patra harbor Greece, these people place themselves in a part of the vehicle, even below the body frame of the vehicle so when the trucks arrive in Italy they would get off and run away there for seeking asylum. But when these vehicles are on board, the people in the bottom part would get hurt or being killed as this late incident, that is when life is in risk and people accept any kinds of risks and perils.
A real tragedy!
Indeed it is a real tragedy when a thirteen year old Afghan child finds no chance of survival in his country and risks his life in such a trip; may be in this trip there was 90 percent chance of survival for him but in his country death was chasing him for 100 percent.
Hamid Ahmadi says again; “after returning from police office, I wrote a letter to Venice municipality and explained the existing realities of Afghanistan for them.”
A part of Hamid’s letter to the Mayor of Venice
“Dear Mr. Mayor, one day you asked me about the situation of Afghanistan but I couldn’t and didn’t want to answer your question on that day because the situation in Afghanistan is worse and more complicated than only a war. And on that day I wasn’t ready to explain to you the thousand kinds of problems that the Afghans have.
Today after calling Zahir’s father, I found myself compel to answer your question. This is the situation of Afghanistan and tens of people who have the ability to escape, they abandon the country on daily basis to save their lives. This is the situation of Afghanistan when a thirteen years old child accepts risks of being killed under a truck!”
A press conference by Venice Mayer on this issue
After the Mayer of Venice received Hamid’s letter, he decided to have a press conference on this issue so the Italian people would convince the Italian government to pay more attention to the Afghan refugees in Italy.
In this important conference that was held in Venice municipality office, many journalists from different Italian media and press participated. Naqi Ehsani, Khadem Haidari, Hamid Ahmadi and Basir Ahang were the Afghan participants in this press conference.
By the participants of the press conference:
Mr. Siminiotti the deputy Mayer of Venice in social policies;
“How long will we be apathetic?”
He has addressed the border police of Italy and said; “how long would we be blind to see the realities? And how long the people who really have the right for asylum would be ignored? According to our jurisdiction as the municipality and with the available facilities we have, we should try to receive and help these people. It is the responsibility of the border police to introduce these people to us as soon as they face them.
But unfortunately this never has happened as an official statistic from last year show that around 850 Afghan asylum seekers were seen in Venice harbor but only 60 of them were introduced to social services and municipality and the rest are being deported back to Greece by the border police. “
He also added: “it is shameful for us to spend a lot of money to help people in different countries but when a 13 year old Afghan asylum seeker comes to our door there is no one to rescue him and he dies here. If we talk of humanity, and we don’t want to be the second Greece for these asylum seekers, we should have well - thought policies about these asylum seekers.”
After the Mayer of Venice received Hamid’s letter, he decided to have a press conference on this issue so the Italian people would convince the Italian government to pay more attention to the Afghan refugees in Italy.
In this important conference that was held in Venice municipality office, many journalists from different Italian media and press participated. Naqi Ehsani, Khadem Haidari, Hamid Ahmadi and Basir Ahang were the Afghan participants in this press conference.
By the participants of the press conference:
Mr. Siminiotti the deputy Mayer of Venice in social policies;
“How long will we be apathetic?”
He has addressed the border police of Italy and said; “how long would we be blind to see the realities? And how long the people who really have the right for asylum would be ignored? According to our jurisdiction as the municipality and with the available facilities we have, we should try to receive and help these people. It is the responsibility of the border police to introduce these people to us as soon as they face them.
But unfortunately this never has happened as an official statistic from last year show that around 850 Afghan asylum seekers were seen in Venice harbor but only 60 of them were introduced to social services and municipality and the rest are being deported back to Greece by the border police. “
He also added: “it is shameful for us to spend a lot of money to help people in different countries but when a 13 year old Afghan asylum seeker comes to our door there is no one to rescue him and he dies here. If we talk of humanity, and we don’t want to be the second Greece for these asylum seekers, we should have well - thought policies about these asylum seekers.”
Ms. Zanella deputy Mayor in cultural, peace and youth affairs;
“It is a tragedy and is not important how old this child was however it is the death of a human and it is of a highly importance.” She has criticized the existing bureaucracy in the right wing majority government of Italy and added: “in spite of allocating an annual budget of 3.5 million Euros for the services for the under age refugees in Venice but unfortunately this amount is not spent in an appropriate manner to solve their problems.”
Naqi Ehsani (Afghan filmmaker in Venice):
Every Afghan asylum seeker who risks his life spends a lot of money in this long perilous journey to be able to reach in a safe European country but unfortunately the European states are reluctant to hear them, they just see the apparent aspect of the case. On the other hand, they are compelled to escape as the situation in Afghanistan is worsening which is given birth by the lack of attention of the international community in this country. I should say that each of the Afghan asylum seekers is an ambassador himself and brings a message, a report and a real story from the existing realities of Afghanistan to report the situation of their country to these people. If the European people hear them, it would help them to feel and understand the situation of Afghanistan in depth but when these ambassadors arrive here, they are being mistreated or deported back because the Europeans did not yet understand the truth about Afghanistan, as if they are involved unwillingly in this country.
It should not be taken for granted that when these people are here, and the European soldiers are there in Afghanistan, a cultural exchange has taken place and currently anything is of a highly importance for Afghanistan, is actually of importance for the whole world.
When this child is killed, actually a story and a message is lost and it is a loss for both sides, the Afghans and the Europeans because a dialogue has been missed.
“It is a tragedy and is not important how old this child was however it is the death of a human and it is of a highly importance.” She has criticized the existing bureaucracy in the right wing majority government of Italy and added: “in spite of allocating an annual budget of 3.5 million Euros for the services for the under age refugees in Venice but unfortunately this amount is not spent in an appropriate manner to solve their problems.”
Naqi Ehsani (Afghan filmmaker in Venice):
Every Afghan asylum seeker who risks his life spends a lot of money in this long perilous journey to be able to reach in a safe European country but unfortunately the European states are reluctant to hear them, they just see the apparent aspect of the case. On the other hand, they are compelled to escape as the situation in Afghanistan is worsening which is given birth by the lack of attention of the international community in this country. I should say that each of the Afghan asylum seekers is an ambassador himself and brings a message, a report and a real story from the existing realities of Afghanistan to report the situation of their country to these people. If the European people hear them, it would help them to feel and understand the situation of Afghanistan in depth but when these ambassadors arrive here, they are being mistreated or deported back because the Europeans did not yet understand the truth about Afghanistan, as if they are involved unwillingly in this country.
It should not be taken for granted that when these people are here, and the European soldiers are there in Afghanistan, a cultural exchange has taken place and currently anything is of a highly importance for Afghanistan, is actually of importance for the whole world.
When this child is killed, actually a story and a message is lost and it is a loss for both sides, the Afghans and the Europeans because a dialogue has been missed.
An Afghan girl, photo by Batoor
Basir Ahang (Afghan journalist - Udine):
Today we are here and talk about a tragedy that has taken place a week ago in Venice and for sure this would not be the first and the last tragedy of this kind. Although such stories are a kind of normal thing for the Afghans and many Afghans lose their lives on daily basis and you may know that the lives of the Afghans are almost mixed with tragic stories. But this is a different story indeed. You imagine that a thirteen year old child escapes his country to save his life, he travels a long and perilous distance to be survived but at the end his last desire is not realized and his found dead under a truck!
You may think that why these people risk their lives for such perilous journeys?
I can surely say that they are compelled to do so because unfortunately the situation of Afghanistan is so bad that no one feels secure there. And it is a simple thing that every one tries to be alive. The Karzai government is unfortunately so weak that it can not keep the security of Kabul. Violence, killing and looting is simple thing in Afghanistan. In the current year about 1500 civilians are being killed in Afghanistan in the same year about 15 young girls are being raped. All these occur in Afghanistan in the presence of military forces of 45 countries of the world. These military forces are there for the application of peace and justice but nothing has changed with their presence. People around the world are nowadays about to celebrate the new year and they are very happy, the parents are buying new year gifts for their children but instead what the Afghan parents present to their children as gift is a tomb or a grave. This is the real situation of Afghanistan!
Today we are here and talk about a tragedy that has taken place a week ago in Venice and for sure this would not be the first and the last tragedy of this kind. Although such stories are a kind of normal thing for the Afghans and many Afghans lose their lives on daily basis and you may know that the lives of the Afghans are almost mixed with tragic stories. But this is a different story indeed. You imagine that a thirteen year old child escapes his country to save his life, he travels a long and perilous distance to be survived but at the end his last desire is not realized and his found dead under a truck!
You may think that why these people risk their lives for such perilous journeys?
I can surely say that they are compelled to do so because unfortunately the situation of Afghanistan is so bad that no one feels secure there. And it is a simple thing that every one tries to be alive. The Karzai government is unfortunately so weak that it can not keep the security of Kabul. Violence, killing and looting is simple thing in Afghanistan. In the current year about 1500 civilians are being killed in Afghanistan in the same year about 15 young girls are being raped. All these occur in Afghanistan in the presence of military forces of 45 countries of the world. These military forces are there for the application of peace and justice but nothing has changed with their presence. People around the world are nowadays about to celebrate the new year and they are very happy, the parents are buying new year gifts for their children but instead what the Afghan parents present to their children as gift is a tomb or a grave. This is the real situation of Afghanistan!
Basir Ahang, Afghan Independent Refugee Journalist and a member of IFJ Udine - Italy
Email: br.ahang@gmail.com , zuseahang@yahoo.com
Blog: www.selselah.blogfa.com
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