Editing by Trisha Leimer
Photography by Christophe Mortier
Hello to everyone who is listening to my story. My name is Shekib, and I came to Germany when I was seventeen years old. Now I am nineteen. I am a refugee here in Germany.
The German government has rejected my asylum request, and I don’t know what should I do. They gave a temporary status to my family so that they can stay here, but they rejected me.
If they send me back to Afghanistan or any other country, what will I do?
I have not seen Afghanistan in my life. Because my parents fled Afghanistan to Iran before I was born, I have never known the country of my heritage. But I heard there is a country called Afghanistan. There is a place called Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. This is a place where every day people are losing their lives in explosions. I have not been to Afghanistan yet, but if the German government deports me to Afghanistan, what will be my future? I cannot live with fear in my life about Afghanistan. Fear of going outside and you don’t know when or where a bomb next to you will explode. I really can’t live with this fear.
The only thing I have in my life is my mother. My father died when I was very young, leaving my mother to raise us on her own. Although she can’t read or write, she is wise and strong and solid. If she cannot be with me, I do not want this life anymore. Life doesn’t make sense if my mother is not with me. I will kill myself and end my life if they separate me from my mother.