A thirty-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who was deported from Finland three months ago got in touch with me Thursday morning. His messages on Messenger were simple but behind them were evident uncertainty and anxiety. We spoke in Finnish by phone later in the afternoon. Ali had learned a lot of Finnish in the two and a half years he waited unsuccessfully for a residence permit.
Ali said that even if he considers himself an Afghan, he had never been to Afghanistan until he was deported to that country.
“I don’t have anyone here,” he continued. “I was born and raised in Iran. I don’t have any work, money or family [in Afghanistan].”
I told him that I heard he was deported to Afghanistan.
Ali said that he hopes to move back to Iran but this is difficult since he doesn’t have the financial means.
“I don’t wander outside the home in Kabul after 8 pm because it is dangerous,” he said. “There have been a lot of bombings and killings in Kabul.”