FROM KABUL TO CARDIFF: MOHAMMED'S STORY

Mohammed’s Story: From Kabul to Cardiff 

Mohammed is now sat in the Oasis Garden ready to tell his story about his journey from Kabul to Cardiff. Mohammed begins his story on a night in Kabul when a group of people took his father. He remembers that ‘it was very scary.’ Mohammed goes on to describe how he tried to help his father and the consequences: ‘they hit a gun on my right leg’ and it broke. 

Mohammed talks about hoping his father would return but he never did. His uncle tried to find the body but there was ‘no chance’. Mohammed was not alone. Many people remember family members being taken never to be seen again. 

‘It is sad, Taliban, or people like that, they’re not joking.’ 

It was this uncle who said, ‘it is not safe.’ And suggested Mohammed should leave. First, he went to Iran. His mother and younger brother joined him later. Mohammed says he will never forget the day he left Kabul, ‘my mother crying, and it was a sad day, but sometimes you don’t have a choice.’ 

Mohammed then went from Iran to Turkey, Turkey to Greece, Greece to Italy, Italy to Austria, Austria to France, then France to the UK. ‘It was a really hard time.’ He elaborates on why it was hard; sometimes he did not have anything to eat or drink and people’s behaviour could be fuelled by negative emotions. 

Close to Italy, Mohammed was discovered in a lorry and his arm was injured by officials. He says, ‘I can’t even take a cup of tea, it’s really painful.’ He says their behaviour was ‘very different’ and that the behaviour of border officials improved in Greece. 

Mohammed touches on other people, describing how some police helped refugees, providing food, water, and clothes. He also describes how refugees would be living in the parks, with no home to go to. They spent their time looking after their small children. 

‘Sometimes I think it’s like a dream.’

Mohammed often reflects on his journey, comparing it to a dream, owing to the difficulty and surrealness of the journey. Now he describes how happy he is in the UK. ‘Now it is very good, I have my job, my family, my wife and it’s safe, very safe all the time.’ Mohammed emphasises how safe it is, reiterating this to his sister all the time. He praises the police here too. Comparing the police here to be ‘like friends’ and make him feel ‘very comfortable’. Whereas in other countries where Mohammed has been, he highlights how scared the police make people feel. 

His final sentence said with a smile on his face, is ‘I’m very comfortable here.’


Written By Tess Brunskill.