Ali (not his real name) is currently living in limbo in Indonesia, and he wants people to know how he ended up there. This story was collaborated through a series of conversations with Ali on skype. His author photo is of Ali behind bars at Tanjung Pinang Detention Centre doing the “victory” symbol with his hands. You can find the second part of Ali’s story here.
Afghanistan was amidst a civil war when Ali and his family left their homeland in 1991. They fled to Pakistan, where his father got a job as a construction worker. The early years were good to them, but eventually the war reached Pakistan, and the Pakistani Taliban started killing Hazara’s.
In 2005 Ali’s father Raza thought that it was time to return to Afghanistan. He thought that conditions may have changed in Afghanistan, and that the war had moved on to Pakistan. They thought they could return home. So Raza left to visit his cousin in Afghanistan.
When he arrived, Raza went with his cousin to return to his old home. They arrived to find that people were already there. They were with the Taliban. Raza asked for them to leave so they could have their land back. The Taliban refused, and killed them both.
Ali was 25 and living with his a sister, his wife, and his young son and daughter. His wife is a primary school teacher and her sister is a kindergarten teacher. They lived in a small rental home, with two bed rooms a bathroom and kitchen.
Ali was earning money by selling mobile accessories to shops, which he buy from the markets. As years moved on, Ali thought it would be a good to learn about mobile phone repairing. So he went to a mobile repairing class in Quetta for a two months course.
After a few days attending the class the teacher started talking about Jihad. This confused Ali, so he raised his voice and asked why the man wasn’t teaching them about mobile phone repair. The teacher said, “jihad is also important in Islam… you can join with the Taliban… you can fight Americans.”
Ali got angry. “Why would we join the Taliban? Taliban killed many innocent people in Afghanistan, they are evil! They killed my father also!” The teacher tried to persist, but eventually moved on and started talking about mobile phones.
When the class finished, Ali went outside and his friend followed him. He warned that Ali shouldn’t argue with the teacher. He tells Ali that this man wasn’t a teacher, he was a preacher. This wasn’t a place to learn mobile phone repairs, this was a place where they find people to join Taliban.
The teacher now knew Ali was a threat, it wouldn’t take long for the Taliban to learn this also. When Ali left work, he was staying at home. He couldn’t go to the markets to work, his life was in danger in the city. He didn’t know what to do, then a friend told him that he could go to Australia.
Ali spoke to his wife about leaving. “If you go to the market and something happen, what will we do?” Said his wife. “It is best that you leave this place, and when you find somewhere safe we can join you.” His children are so young, when he left they didn’t understand where he was going. They would just ask, “where are you going… how long will you be there?”
Through his friend, Ali found an agent who would help him to get out of Pakistan. Through this agent they took his photo and attached it to a passport with a false name and details. “If you give money you can get anything in Pakistan.” They told him which desk to go to at the airport, and they stamped his passport and allowed him on the plane.
Ali’s plane flew him to Malaysia. When he arrived they took his passport, and from there they took a boat to Indonesia. He was traveling with nine more refugees. Once they reached Indonesia he was taken to Jakarta, where they were moved to a Vila in Bagor.
They stayed there for days looking for a good agent to find a good boat. They eventually settled with someone, but only chose him because they gave up looking. It didn’t matter, “all agents are the same.” They got up early one morning and headed out to board a fishing boat. It was going to take them to Christmas island.
You can find the second part of Ali’s story here.
Image: flickr / leeno
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Reblogged this on Hazara Perspective.