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Afghanistan

I Produced Media Against the Taliban

I graduated with a degree in journalism and joined the Afghan police force.

Walid, Afghanistan
Walid, Afghanistan
Walid, Afghanistan

Editing by Twila Bird

Photography by Garrett Gibbons

I graduated with a degree in journalism and joined the Afghan police force. I was responsible for their media. When we joined forces with NATO, I worked as a television journalist with them for four years. My duty was to shoot videos during operations with the NATO forces and also during opium raids and anti-terrorist campaigns.

I lost many of my friends during these operations. Ahmad, who worked with me, was caught by terrorists, and they tore his skin apart. They said it was because he cooperated with the government. Abolfazl was killed when he left his home to go to his point of service. Reshad was killed when he was going to his bank. Eghbal was shot in the eye when he went to Shindel Market to buy a CD and listen to music. Mir Veis, who was responsible for detecting mines for three years, was exploded by a mine and died. When I took his dead body to his house, his fiancée went mad.

These incidents all happened while we were trying to bring peace to Afghanistan, destroy narcotics, and kill terrorists. That was our responsibility and why we joined the police and received special training.

I was tired of losing my friends during war, so after four years of duty, I quit. I began working as an announcer on a local radio station, but I began getting warnings from the Taliban. They said they would kill me because I had produced media against them, so I fled to Pakistan. Then I heard they had found my family and killed my father. I could not go back. I decided to continue on my way to Iran, then Turkey, then Greece.

Now I have been here for months, and I don’t know what will happen. I am trying to seek asylum, but there are many problems and nothing is clear. They don’t give us answers.

Informed Consent

Our team members obtain informed consent from each individual before an interview takes place. Individuals dictate where their stories may be shared and what personal information they wish to keep private. In situations where the individual is at risk and/or wishes to remain anonymous, alias names are used and other identifying information is removed from interviews immediately after they are received by TSOS. We have also committed not to use refugee images or stories for fundraising purposes without explicit permission. Our top priority is to protect and honor the wishes of our interview subjects.

What would you do if you had to leave everything behind?

By the end of 2024, more than 123.2 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes due to war, persecution, or human rights abuses.

An increase of 7.2 million over 2023, that’s more than 19,619 people every day — roughly one person every 4.4 seconds.

They arrive in refugee camps and other countries, like the US, seeking the one thing they’ve lost: safety.

Fleeing political imprisonment, ethnic violence, religious persecution, gang threats, or war crimes, they come with what little they managed to carry:

Legal papers – if they’re lucky.

A single backpack.

Sometimes a child’s hand in theirs.

They also carry the weight of what they left behind: fractured families, homes they’ll never return to, professions they loved, friends and relatives they may never see again.

They carry loss most of us can’t imagine – but also the truth of what they’ve endured.

At TSOS, we believe stories are a form of justice. When someone shares their experience of forced displacement, they reclaim their voice. And when we amplify that voice – through film, photography, writing, and advocacy – the world listens. Hearts soften. Communities open. Policy begins to shift.

That shift matters. Because when neighbors understand instead of fear…

when lawmakers see people, not politics…

when a teacher knows what her student has survived…

Rebuilding life from the ashes becomes possible.

We’re fighting an uphill battle. In today’s political climate, refugee stories are often twisted or ignored. They’re reduced to statistics, portrayed as national threats, or used to score political points.

The truth – the human, nuanced truth – gets lost, and when it does, we lose compassion.

We are here to share their truth anyway.

At TSOS, we don’t answer to headlines or algorithms. We are guided by a simple conviction: every person deserves to be seen, heard, and welcomed.

Our work is powered by the people we meet — refugees and asylum seekers rebuilding after loss, allies offering sanctuary, and communities daring to extend belonging.

Your support helps us share their stories — and ensure they’re heard where they matter most.

“What ultimately persuaded the judge wasn’t a legal argument. It was her story.”

— Kristen Smith Dayley, Executive Director, TSOS

Will you help us keep telling the truth?

No donation is too small — and it only takes a minute of your time.

Why give monthly?

We value every gift, but recurring contributions allow us to plan ahead and invest more deeply in:

  • New refugee storytelling and advocacy projects
  • Resources to train and equip forcibly displaced people to share their own stories
  • Public education that challenges fear with empathy
  • Local efforts that help communities welcome and integrate newcomers

As our thank-you, monthly supporters receive fewer fundraising messages — and more stories of the impact they’re making possible.

You don’t have to be displaced to stand with those who are.

Can you give today — and help carry these stories forward?

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