Ahsan: Immigrant Stories
Channel: Immigration History Research Center
Date: 2019-11-11

Immigrant Stories invites immigrants, refugees, and their families to create digital stories about their experiences. Each story is preserved in the Immigration History Research Center & Archives at the University of Minnesota, where we have collected materials related to immigration in the U.S. since 1965.


English Translation:


[Franziska] This video is about Ahsan; he talks about his escape from his homeland Afghanistan. First, he introduces himself:

[Ahsan] I'm nineteen years old and I want to talk about my escape. I could not live in Afghanistan because our lives were in danger. I have two brothers and four sisters. I'm from Kunduz; that's in the north of Afghanistan. My father worked as a farmer and I helped. I was in school for three years. But I had to stop going because it was too dangerous.

[Franziska] The Taliban have been in Afghanistan since 1994. They fight against the government, against the police, and put the population under pressure, sow terror, abduct people, extort and kill them. The Taliban have their own laws and they are responsible for the terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. Ahsan's older brother met a girl at work and fell in love with her, but her family was also with the Taliban. Her family did not want her to marry because Ahsan's family is not a Taliban. That's why Ahans's brother secretly met with her. When her family heard about it, they broke his brother's hand. That was a warning shot, so to speak. When the girl became pregnant, the two had to flee abroad. Otherwise they could have been stoned. That happened in her village with another couple. After that, Ahans's family was attacked and they had to flee.

Ahsan was sixteen at the time. They ran in the mountains at night and had to be quiet. They had to hide and run when the police came. That was very difficult with his little siblings. At the Turkish border, the police arrived and everyone ran apart.

[Ahsan] I lost my family. My family was sent back to Afghanistan. I made it across the border into Turkey. I have discussed with my father what to do on my own and (unintelligible). My father wanted me to be safe and to go on to Europe.

[Franziska] In a small, overcrowded boat, Ahsan then drove from Turkey to Greece. He traveled to Germany by bus, train and on foot. First he went to a first reception center and then came to Cottbus to a youth facility.

[Ahsan] When I was eighteen, I got an apartment. During this time, I got a lot better from Germans. For me it was hard to be safe myself and to know that the life of my family is threatened. My younger brother was kidnapped by the Taliban and was supposed to go back a few weeks all night. My father has since been killed by the Taliban. My mother lives alone with my little siblings. That makes me sad too. I can not help.

[Franziska] These days, he has trouble concentrating on his new tasks here in Germany. He is glad that he was able to talk to a psychologist. She helped him deal with the situation. Here in Germany he can go to school now.

[Ahsan] Now I'm in the 10th grade and then I want to start training. But even if you speak good and do everything as the Germans do, you are seen as a foreigner. On the street I get strange looks and some people are angry with me. I wish that people understand that I am a normal person. I am thankful that I can live in safety. My goal is that people understand that we can live together in peace.