Afghan migrants like Soheila: Eid in exile feels strange

Written By: Tabasum Nasiry

Afghanistan has been among the countries with the highest number of refugees and migrants globally for several decades. Soheila is one of the thousands of Afghan migrants who have celebrated Eid in a foreign land over the past two years. According to Soheila, for migrants, Eid feels strange, and they only celebrate it as spectators.

Soheila is one of the Afghan migrant girls in Pakistan who has been living there for two years, hoping to enter European countries. In a conversation with Khaama Press, she says that celebrating Eid in migration is never as pleasant as being surrounded by loved ones inside the country.

Soheila states that she feels like a “stranger” in the land of migration and hopes to return to her country one day and celebrate Eid alongside her family and friends as she did in the past.

She adds, “All migrants experience a period of emotional trauma due to being away from their country, family, and friends. People’s hearts and souls suffer in migration. I always wished for security in my country to share in the joys that I can only see from a distance.”

While many migrants experience different conditions during migration, some psychologists have termed this state as “migration trauma,” which involves traumatic and stressful experiences such as the forced departure from home and country, war, political or religious persecution, violence, separation from family and friends, and racial and cultural discrimination.

However, in a recent report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it was stated that Afghanistan has the largest population of displaced people, accounting for one-third of the world’s refugees.

Ajmal, another Afghan migrant in Germany, recently migrated to this country. According to him, Eid days during migration are like ordinary days, with only a few people visiting each other.

Ajmal adds that Eid has no festive atmosphere in the land of migration, and sometimes he celebrates it through social media and occasionally meets with some friends and relatives.

According to the UNHCR report, Afghanistan has 6.4 million refugees worldwide.

Meanwhile, the process of deporting Afghan migrants from Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey has significantly increased in recent months, with thousands returning to their country either “forcibly or voluntarily.”

This comes amid a dire humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, with over 23 million people in need of aid, a lack of job opportunities, restrictions on women’s education and employment, and the persecution of former Afghan army members.

The post Afghan migrants like Soheila: Eid in exile feels strange appeared first on Khaama Press.