An Afghan family escaped the Taliban invasion of Afghanistan in August 2021 and took refuge in Ukraine. Ajmal Rahmani left Afghanistan with his wife and kids with the thought that he had found a safe place for his family when they were forced to flee again as Russia invaded Ukraine. The family found themselves in the midst of another war and were forced to, yet again, take refuge in another country, this time Poland.
"I run from one war, come to another country and another war starts. Very bad luck," Rahmani told AFP. Rahmani along with his wife, Mina, their son, Omar, 11, and daughter Marwa, 7, walked at least 30 km to cross the Ukrainian border to Poland because of the gridlock on the Ukrainian side of the border.
Surprisingly, hundreds of Afghans who fled their country in recent years are stranded in Ukraine. Rana Alwat, 26, managed to board a train to flee the war-ravaged country along with her husband and son. Rana migrated to Odesa, Ukraine, from Afghanistan six years ago for the hope of a better future and had been teaching at an Odesa-based Afghan refugee school.
'I had a Good Life in Afghanistan'
Rahmani, on the other hand, who is in his 40s, noted that he worked for NATO at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan for 18 years. He decided to leave Afghanistan four months before the withdrawal of the US forces as he started receiving threats.
"I had a good life in Afghanistan, I had a private house, I had a private car, I had a good salary. I sold my car, my house, my everything. I lost everything," Rahmani said.
Some 213,000 People have crossed Poland from Ukraine Till Now
After struggling to get a visa to leave Afghanistan, Rahmani decided to go to Ukraine because it was the only country that would give him entry. When Russia launched a full-fledged attack on Ukraine, the family had to leave everything behind and travel 1,110 km to the Poland border.
According to Polish authorities, some 213,000 people have crossed Poland from Ukraine since last Thursday. The Ambassador of Ukraine to India, Dr. Igor Polikha noted that the number of Ukrainian refugees to different countries has already exceeded 4 lakh. The number is likely to reach 7 million if the war is not stopped shortly.
