KOTCHOK. KABUL - PARIS
" It is said that helicopters fly over Paris every morning, at dawn, to spray perfume."
In Afghanistan, the word قاچاق (Qotchoq -pronounce Kotchok-) means smuggled. You just have to say it to enter the world of clandestinity.
With author Claire Billet, we joined 5 young men in their crossing from Afghanistan to Europe. They travelled across 12000 km, 6 countries, and 7 borders.
Jaweed and his cousin Rohani ran away from their home because of a tribal feud.
Two brothers, Khyber and Fawad, travelled on their side. they lost their job after the US military had left their region.
Luqman, the youngest of the group, fled a bloody vendetta that had his father killed.
They all hoped to build a new life in Europe.
Their journey was an initiatory one, where the cruded realities of migration were mixed up with their fantasies.
We shared their crossing for over 6 months and finally came to embody, despite our will, the symbols their European mirage.
Rohani and Jaweed
" Life is worthless. One life abroad is worth a thousand lives here. Men go down like ninepins."
Kabul, Afghanistan. March 30, 2013.
Pacha, smuggler.
"I have been going this job for ten years. Nobody has complained. Inch'Allah, you will arrive safe and sound.
Jalalabad, Afghanistan. April 8, 2013.
Rohani dealt his smuggling all the way to Greece for 7500 $.
Jalalabad, Afghanistan. April 7, 2013.
Jawid.
"I hope many girls will love me in Europe."
Torkham border checkpoint, Afghanistan. April 19, 2013.
Fawad.
"I dream of building a beautiful house in Europe. Everything is beautiful, neat, and safe there."
Torkham border checkpoint, Afghanistan. April 19, 2013.
Rohani and Khyber.
Peshawar, Pakistan. April 22, 2013.
Fawad et Rohani.
Peshawar, Pakistan. April 23, 2013.
Jaweed.
Lahore, Pakistan. April 23, 2013.
Khyber on his way to Karachi.
Rohri, Pakistan. April 24 2013.
The group is hidden in the animal shelter of a farm.
Urmia, Iran. May 16 2013.
Two smugglers are guiding the travellers through the Kurdish mountains, between Iran and Turkey.
May 17, 2013.
The groupe is waiting for the sunset to go cross the border, lowering the risk of getting caught by the post cards.
Iran, May 16, 2013.
Fawad.
"Pashtun people say that if you tell about your dreams, they will not come true."
Iran. May 16, 2013.
Khyber.
"I can't stand the cold. It's too hard. We have to keep moving to warm up."
Iran. May 17, 2013.
the group reaches Turkey after a 14 hours night climb through the mountains, on smugglers tracks.
May 18, 2013.
Fawad.
" In France, I will be king!"
The group will be waiting for 3 days in this hide-out.
Van, Turkey. May 20, 2013.
Khyber.
"The worst of it is waiting. We never know when we will leave. It drives us crazy."
Van, Turkey, May 20, 2013.
Luqman.
"I dreamt of my niece, Mina. I was so moved that I couldn't go back to sleep."
Diyarbakir, Turkey. May 21, 2013.
Rohani and Luqman discover the tramway.
Istanbul, Turkey. May 22, 2013.
The hideout is for single men only. Families are hidden in a separate place.
Istanbul, Turkey. May 24, 2013.
Rohani.
"The sea is so vast! If I didn't have to cross it on a dinghy, I would find it beautiful. "
Istanbul, Turkey. May 25, 2013.
The smuggler drives the van to an unknown location near the sea shore.
Istanbul, Turkey. May 28, 2013.
The travellers were dropped off an orchard because police was waiting at the meeting point.
Kushadasi, Turkey. 28 Mai 2013.
As the Turkish police arrived in the orchard, the Afghan friends decide to run away.
Kushadasi, Turkey. May 29, 2013.
The group is waiting for their zodiac, near an all-inclusive holiday resort.
Kushadasi, Turkey. May 30, 2013.
Jaweed.
"Europe is like a wall. I have to go over without getting hurt. On the other side, everything will be alright."
Aegean Sea. May 30, 2013.
Luqman
"The Greek coastguards pushed us back. They abandoned us on the open sea and took our engine out."
Aegean Sea. May 30, 2013.
"God, save us!"
Aegean Sea. May 30, 2013.
Their zodiac was hailed by a Greek navy corvette. The travellers were all taken aboard in order for the armed and masked Coast-gards to search their boat, and take its engine away. The travellers were then put back on it, at gun point.They were left adrift, in the night, near the Turkish side of the sea. It's called a collective push-back. It is illegal according to the European Convention on Human Rights, the Geneva Convention, and the maritime law.
Finally, the Turkish coast-guards rescued the afghan travellers. The Turkish authorities jailed the whole group. Khyber, JAweed, and Rohani were deported to Afghanistan.
After claiming they were minors, Fawad and Luqman ere taken to an open shelter from where they ran away.
Fawad and Luqman are waiting for their new"game". it means: smuggling way. Their "game" here is a clandestine boat navigating from Turkey to Italy.
"I'm so scared. I saw on TV that there are crocodiles in the sea."
Istanbul, Turkey, June 15 2013.
One month later, Luqman and Fawad reached Europe after crossing the Mediterranean sea.
Pachino, Italy. July 25, 2013.
Luqman entered a marina office to take a shower after his 5 days at sea, locked-up with Fawad in the ship's holds.
Luqman.
"We are no longer scared. They will understand our problems. They will not hurt us because there are laws."
Sicilia, Italy. July 26, 2013.
Fawad.
Roma, Italy, July 30, 2013.
Luqman and Fawad have just crossed the border between Italy and France.
Menton tunnel, France. August 2, 2013.
Luqman in the high speed train toward Paris.
France, August 2, 2013.
Luqman.
"It's so beautiful, and so ancient. Everything is historical."
Paris, France. August 2, 2013.
Fawad.
Paris isn't what we thought it was, it's worst than our home. Look at the people in the streets, you can see they are shown no respect."
Paris, France. August 3, 2013.
"Love can kill. I left Afghanistan because the woman I loved was married to another man."
Fawad got granted his refugee status. He has learnt to speak German and has the authorization to work. He lives with his brother in Sarrebruck.
"You can just sit in a corner and you think. You think about the papers, the work, the family. It's depressing. It's the stress of the refugee."
Luqman now speaks French. He has done petty jobs to make a living. He got granted his refugee status, finished computer studies, and is now worknig as a web integrator. He lives with a French family in the suburb of Paris.
We then travelled back to Afghanistan, looking for Khyber, who is Fawad's brother, and the two cousins, Jaweed and Rohani.
Fawad left to Germany. He is housed in a camp for asylum seekers.
Lebach, Germany. September 1, 2013.
Luqman is sometimes given a one-night bed in a Parisian emergency shelter for the homeless. He got scabies there.
Paris, France. February 2014.
Rohani had run away to Europe because he was threatened by the Taliban as a defector. When he came back to the village, he was forced to join their side again. He was then arrested and jailed without trial.
He is supposed to get out in 2022.
Kabul. Avril 20, 2014.
Jaweed is exhausted by the daily fighting in his village. He never took off the migrants' route because he has not enough money. He now has two boys.
Kabul, Afghanistan. April 29, 2014.
Khyber found a now house, and repairs sewing machine in the main bazar. He has had a 3d boy, and doesn't want to leave his family.
"It was killing me to be away from them. So when we got arrested, I was the one to stay in Turkey, but I offered my brother to take my place."
Kabul, Afghanistan, May 2, 2014.
