Migrant Tales got an unexpected friend request on Facebook late Tuesday evening. It was Zaki, one of the Afghan asylum seekers who was deported to Kabul on Tuesday with eleven other people.
Helsingin Sanomat published an extensive article about Zaki’s ordeal.
What makes Zaki’s case so frustrating is that the supreme district court overruled his deportation ruling by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) on Wednesday, a day after he was deported and escorted by 3-4 police officers to Kabul.
Hussein Kazemian interviewed Zaki by phone today. He said that both Zaki and his friend, Baran, who was also deported, are in shock and full of fear. For their long journey to Finland and months of uncertainty, they were given 200 US dollars* by the police on the flight for their worries.
Kazemian: What are you thoughts at this moment?
Zaki: I feel threatened and cannot go outside the IOM guest houses. I believe that those people who threatened me are looking for me. I hope I can find a way to return [to Finland].
Kazemian: What do you think about Migri’s decision to deport you?
Zaki: It’s unfair. I had a job [in Finland] and was living with a Finnish family.
Kazemian: Are you going to go to the Finnish Embassy in Kabul and ask for asylum because the supreme district court ruled that they cannot deport you?
Zaki: The police made a mistake by deporting me. They have to return me back to Finland. I will go there [Finnish embassy] today and do not know how to get there.
Kazemian: What will you do if you cannot return to Finland?
Zaki: That’s a difficult question to answer, but I will try through friends to go back because I left all my hopes in that country. If things work out, I will come to Finland next year or later.
Kazemian: Do you have anything you’d like to say to the readers of Migrant Tales?
Zaki: There is no security in Kabul as a capital city. Those that they deport are all in shock. Most of the negatives we got were done badly. Please do not deport any more people [from Finland] to Afghanistan.
Kazemian spoke to Baran by phone. He too was in a state of shock. He said he did not sign any deportation paper, but they sent him back by force.
“I could not stay here because of the insecurity,” he said. “I’ll have to go to work in Iran and maybe find a job in construction. Maybe I’ll come back to Finland.”
* CORRECTED from euros to dollars.