Afghans in Ukraine: Escaped war twice – in six months

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Jawed Haqmal did it.

He was able to save himself, his pregnant wife, his four children and six other relatives from Ukraine.

The family was in Kyiv when the war broke out.

Six months earlier, they had to flee once before: from their home country of Afghanistan, when the Taliban seized power.

We meet the 33-year-old, who worked for the Canadian military in his hometown of Kandahar, in Berlin after his first quiet night in days.

He tells us how he experienced the beginning of the war in Ukraine in a hotel in Kyiv.

Jawed Haqmal, Afghan:

"

The flight from Kyiv was particularly risky for the twelve Afghans.

Even leaving the hotel was dangerous, because without valid papers they could have been mistaken for Russian saboteurs.

Jawed Haqmal, Afghan:

“I've told my family that if the police stop us, there's little chance they'll shoot us because they see our children and our situation.

The risk of being shot at or killed is lower than if we stay here.

We will die here one hundred percent.

That's why we're going."

On Monday, the fifth day of the war, they dared to go out into the streets after the night curfew – while explosions shook Kyiv.

The family had the same goal as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians: the border with the EU.

Jawed Haqmal borrowed money from another Afghan family in Kyiv.

He used it to pay Ukrainians who took the family by bus to Lviv in the west of the country.

Two days after their departure, the Haqmals finally reached the Polish border.

Here, too, it was initially impossible to get through without Ukrainian passports.

They bribed the Ukrainian border guards with the borrowed money, made it to Przemysl, in the EU.

Jawed Haqmal, Afghan:

'They let Ukrainian people through, right away.

They didn't have to wait a moment on the Ukrainian side.

But I saw the other refugees, Afghans, Syrians, Africans, waiting on the streets.

One said to me: We have been waiting here for the past three days, we have slept here.

(...) They set some of their things on fire to keep it warm.«

It's not the first time the Haqmals have witnessed the ferocity of war - and luckily escaped.

Jawed Haqmal had worked as a translator for the Canadian military for three years.

When the Taliban took power in his homeland in August 2021, his family and hundreds of others were flown to Kyiv by Ukrainian emergency services – to supposed safety.

They waited six months in the Ukrainian capital for an onward journey to Canada and lived in a hotel with the help of donations.

But Canada's immigration authorities didn't budge, even when Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Kyiv.

Jawed Haqmal, Afghan:

'A few days before that I contacted you: please sir, you know the news and are aware of the situation.

That's why you got your embassy and consulate staff, all your diplomatic staff, out of the country.

I'm human like you."

When asked, the Canadian immigration authorities spoke of a "complex case" whose "thorough security check would take additional time".

She does not want to comment on individual cases.

Since fleeing Kyiv, Jawed Haqmal no longer hopes for Canada.

After crossing the Polish border, he met German volunteers.

They organized cars and took the family directly to Berlin.

Here he is now, with his wife and children, his brother, his mother and his sister's family.

On this first day in Germany, they all experience more willingness to help than ever before, they say.

The hotel on Kurfürstendamm pays for the family's room and organizes free corona tests directly.

The doctor present at the test center spontaneously vaccinates the whole family.

The tension in the children slowly decreases – you can see and hear that.

And her father is already daring to look into the future.

Jawed Haqmal, Afghan:

»There are some health problems in my family, especially with my children and my wife.

I'll take her to some doctors.

Perhaps the government will provide us with accommodation or a house and we can arrive.

There will be a new life in Germany.«

A Berlin association is now taking care of the Haqmals, helping them register and organizing visits to the doctor.

The missing papers will then probably become a challenge again.

But first, after fleeing two wars, Jawed Haqmal has achieved his goal: his family is finally safe.