ABSTRACT
While the Syrian exodus has captured the spotlight, Afghans comprise more than 20 percent of the refugees who have fled to Europe since 2015. And thanks to EU efforts to declare Afghanistan a safe country, they are at especially high risk of being repatriated, a devastating paradox because, since the bulk of NATO-led international forces withdrew from the country, an intensified Taliban insurgency, the emergence of the Islamic States, widespread poverty, persecution, and unrelenting violence have forced Afghans to escape, many to Germany. This chapter reveals how their stories were found and told by an Afghan journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Afghan Service, whose primary audience is in Afghanistan. His coverage ranged from the prohibitively high costs charged by smugglers to take Afghans on a circuitous route to Europe to their first experiences on Greek islands, the different treatment they received when applying for asylum compared to Syrians, and the personal stories of those whose cases were rejected in Germany or in limbo in Sweden, including a 17-year-old girl who made it there alone after the Taliban killed her family. Throughout, a powerful dilemma emerges: What are the ethical and practical responsibilities of reporters covering migration for would-be migrants?
