From bitcoin dreamer to fugitive, fleeing the Taliban to Turkey

TATVAN, Turkey, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Muhammad Ali said he dreamed of building a cryptocurrency business before the Taliban began their journey through Afghanistan, forcing him on a daunting journey west through of Iran and Turkey, avoiding border guards and security searches. .

The Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan has raised concerns in Turkey, a hotbed for many immigrants trying to reach Europe and already home to nearly 4 million Syrians, over a new influx of refugees. Security on the border with Iran has increased, but some Afghans are still going through it.

Housed in a drainage tunnel outside Tatvan district in Bitlis province in eastern Turkey, Ali, a 20-year-old man from Khost province in Afghanistan, said he was waiting for transport to to the west and that he wanted to continue towards Europe. About 50 people took refuge with him.

Ali said he had studied computer science and taught web and graphic design in Afghanistan. He said he had a YouTube channel where he posted videos on topics such as making money online.

“I was planning a bitcoin or ethereum mining business … Suddenly, everything changed and the Taliban took over all of Afghanistan,” he said.

“There is no internet. If there is no internet, I can’t do my job there. If we had smartphones that had a camera, the Taliban wouldn’t allow it.”

After walking for weeks through Iran, immigrants entering the eastern province of Van, Turkey, head on foot, bus, or boat to the city of Tatvan, on the western shore of Lake Van.

On their way, they try to evade police checkpoints, raids in their hiding places and Coast Guard boats patrolling the huge lake, where last year a ship carrying about 60 migrants sank and the he killed them all.

Wais Muhammad Shehrzad, 30, said he left Afghanistan a month ago, paying $ 1,000 to traffickers and walking up to 50 hours at a time with little food on the way.

“Our feet have bottles, we don’t have clothes or food,” he said, took off his shoes to show a bruised ankle and told other people in the group to sit down to avoid being seen.

Shehrzad said he was from Kabul and had worked as a shoe maker and previously as an English teacher. He wanted to get to Istanbul, find a job and return the money to his family.

In recent weeks, Turkish police have detained thousands of Afghan immigrants among 300,000 in the country. Those trapped in Bitlis are being sent to a repatriation center in Van, although Afghans are currently not being returned to their country due to the turbulence there.

A day after talking to Reuters, Ali sent a text message. “The police are arresting us,” he said.

Additional reports from Parniyan Zemaryalai in London; Editing by Dominic Evans and Nick Tattersall

Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.