Afghans make their way through flood water in Kabul, Afghanistan in April 2016. Massoud Hossaini/AP/Press Association. All rights reserved.
Somali and Afghan migrants have for some time been among the top nationalities of asylum seekers arriving in Europe. They are coming from countries where the post-conflict label has lost its meaning, and has given way to continued or renewed conflict. They share the lack of legal migration pathways to Europe: their only chance at making it to Europe is to be smuggled out of their country.
“When you think of leaving, it becomes like a sickness, an obsession. If someone says tonight ‘I need to go to Europe’, that person has to go and will be helped by the community to go. Right in your neighbourhood, introductions are made. The smuggler I had was a friend, I trusted him”. These words – from a Somali man recently returned from Norway to Mogadishu – echo the voices of migrants interviewed in Afghanistan and show how quickly the migration project can turn from aspiration into action.
