Arrival: The Government Has Rejected My Asylum Request
If they send me back to Afghanistan or any other country, what will I do?
Editing by Twila Bird
Photography by Christophe Mortier
Hello to everyone who is listening to my story. My name is Shekib, and I came to Germany when I was seventeen years old. Now I am nineteen. I am a refugee here in Germany.
The German government has rejected my asylum request, and I don’t know what should I do. They gave a temporary status to my family so that they can stay here, but they rejected me.
If they send me back to Afghanistan or any other country, what will I do?
I have not seen Afghanistan in my life. Because my parents fled Afghanistan to Iran before I was born, I have never known the country of my heritage. But I heard there is a country called Afghanistan. There is a place called Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. This is a place where every day people are losing their lives in explosions. I have not been to Afghanistan yet, but if the German government deports me to Afghanistan, what will be my future? I cannot live with fear in my life about Afghanistan. Fear of going outside and you don’t know when or where a bomb next to you will explode. I really can’t live with this fear.
The only thing I have in my life is my mother. My father died when I was very young, leaving my mother to raise us on her own. Although she can’t read or write, she is wise and strong and solid. If she cannot be with me, I do not want this life anymore. Life doesn’t make sense if my mother is not with me. I will kill myself and end my life if they separate me from my mother.
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.