'Kept in a golden cage': Afghan families share their experience of life in refugee camps

CTV National News: Year of displacements Genevieve Beauchemin reports on several nations, like Ukraine and Afghanistan, facing humanitarians crises leaving their citizens displaced.

Refugees living in camps while they wait to learn of their fate say they're often in cramped quarters and poor conditions, with conflicted feelings, as they know they are safer than they were, but are feeling trapped by uncertainty.

Some Afghan families shared their stories with CTVNews.ca of life in refugee camps, after fleeing Afghanistan following the Taliban's return to power.

Once a temporary home for more than 10,000 Afghan refugees, the Emirates Humanitarian City in Abu Dhabi is still home to more than 2,000.

After Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban, many Afghans were evacuated to Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Albania.

These countries are used as transit countries for Afghan refugees flying to Canada, the U.S. and European countries.

The majority of refugees who evacuated to Abu Dhabi are now in their destinations countries – most of them in the U.S. – but some remain at the camps, still waiting for the visas that will allow them to move on.

Hassina Sadat, her husband and two children are still in the EHC camp, waiting for their asylum to be approved by their destination country.

“My only concern is my uncertain situation and our future is not clear. It's caused a lot of refugees to have mental problems and pressure,” said Hassina to CTV News. “I have got depression here. We have everything here, but the only thing missing is freedom. It feels like you’ve been kept in golden cage.”

In order to reduce the pressure, Hassina keeps herself busy by volunteering, teaching the English language to other women in the camp.

“I teach those women who did not have the chance to study in Afghanistan. I feel good when I teach women and I am happy to help others.”

Teaching was her profession in Afghanistan. She was a teacher in one of the educational colleges in Kabul, and holds a master's degree in education from India.

After the return of Taliban, Hassina and her family fled to Abu Dhabi in September 2021.

She said they left Afghanistan because they did not feel safe. She'd been fired from her job by the Taliban. Following that, the Taliban imposed further restrictions on female government employees, barring them returning to work.

She was supposed to go on to her final destination in the very first few months, but things did not go as planned.

When she was asked how much longer she would remain at the camp, she said she hadn't been given a specific answer.

“Don’t know,” she said. “There are a lot of people who have legal documents and are still waiting for their visas to be approved.”

For the first six months, refugees in the EHC camp were not allowed to go outside of their rooms, but after several protests, the situation changed a little bit. Still, they are not free to leave the camp.

Her family's situation is not unique.

“We had nothing to cook with and my wife had to put a bottle of water in the sunlight coming from a tiny window to warm up for my newborn boy,” said Falak Afghan, another refugee who is also in the EHC camp with his wife and five children.

“The services are not good here. When my child was born here, we did not have access to a doctor. We had to wait for almost six months to see doctor.”

Falak's family was given a single room in which to sleep, eat and live.

“We have to sleep in a small room on concrete, and it caused my children to get sick,” said Falak. He said he believes his children fell ill because the room was damp. They put cartons on the floor to avoid the moisture.

Falak was working for the former Afghan government in Kabul, and his wife was a teacher. They fled to Abu Dhabi in October 2021, and since then they have been waiting for their asylum documents to be confirmed and approved by the U.S. government.

“I was evacuated by an agency from Afghanistan but it did not follow my case here. Since we do not have access to legal services in the camp, my case was closed and now I am in an uncertain situation,” Falak said.

Falak said the situation in EHC camp is very hard, and described the “misery” he felt over the death of his friend, Yousuf Halim.

Halim, a former Afghan supreme court judge, died in the camp due to a heart attack earlier this year, on Oct. 17. He was also waiting in the camp for his asylum application to be approved. Falak believes his heart attack was related to life at the camp, saying, “due to stress and depression he lost his life.”

“He was healthy with no history of illness. We used to walk together for daily prayers but he suddenly died. I think stress and uncertainty killed him. People are dying a lot here, but authorities keep the news hidden from refugees.”

But for refugees who are stuck in Pakistan, the situation is even harder. They are not only uncertain about their future, but financially struggling.

For Abdullah Hamim and Roman Pana, who left Afghanistan for Pakistan seven months ago, life is challenging, with no source of income as they spend their savings on rent and other expenses.

They were both working with local TV stations back in Afghanistan, but when the Taliban imposed limitations and censorship on the media, they had to leave the country.

“The situation here is very difficult. Refuges are not able to pay for everything, unlike at other camps in other countries where refugees are being provided with housing and expenses,” said Abdullah.

According to Abdullah, most of refugees’ visas are expired, and they fear that police in Pakistan will arrest them and send them back to Afghanistan.

Abdullah and his friend Roman have metaphorically knocked on the doors of other countries that give refuge to Afghans, but only France has showed a little sympathy.

“I’ve sent my application to all those countries who accept refugees, but no one has confirmed they would issue a visa for us,” said Roman.

Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.