Escaping the Taliban

Crammed into a refrigerated container in the back of a lorry, Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi, his wife, three children- aged eight, five and four months - fled the threat of the Taliban in 1999, making a treacherous journey across Europe from Afghanistan, eventually arriving in the UK nine months later.  

Fearing for his family’s lives, desperate for someone to hear, Dr Nasimi banged with all "my strength from inside the lorry door" when it finally stopped. Someone did hear his pleas and unlocked the door. The UK Border Agency and emergency services then, arrived taking the family to the local hospital for medical treatment and then to the immigration centre in Dover.

Born in Ghorband, a district in the north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Dr Nasimi grew up witnessing the invasion by the USSR and the rise of the Taliban’s religious fundamentalism curtailing freedoms making life dangerous for him and his family.

Aged 21 Dr Nasimi served as a soldier with the Afghanistan Army in Wardak Province, distributing food, water, newspapers and running workshops about equality for soldiers. Four years later in Ukraine, he met his wife Mahboba Nasimi, when the couple were studying at Odesa University for their undergraduate degree. Both his older daughters were born in Ukraine where he also obtained his PhD in law.

Later the family returned to Afghanistan in 1998. But he and Mahboba, who had studied for a masters degree were seen as "traitors" by the Taliban for their liberal views.  One day he found out from a confidential source that he would be killed.

Dr Nasimi said: "At the time, we knew the best option for us was to try to get to the UK – a place we heard could give us the sanctuary and freedom we craved. So we sold all of our belongings and packed only essential items to make a journey across Europe and bid farewell to the life we left behind."

Boarding a flight from Kabul, Afghanistan to Ukraine, Dr Nasimi and his family travelled by foot, on a boat, in cars and lorries through Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany - they slept in motels, petrol stations, in parks before reaching Belgium. "In Ukraine my son was born," said Dr Nasimi, "so travelling with a small baby made the journey even more dangerous. We had to protect him from the cold, seek medical care and try to keep up with immunisations."

In Brussels, Dr Nasimi and his family stayed in a refugee camp, waited for instructions from smugglers on how to get to the UK, until one night they were moved into the back of a refrigerated container in a lorry with other families.

When the family finally arrived in Dover, the Border Agency took the family firstly to the hospital, then the immigration centre and stayed overnight in a hotel. The next day the family travelled to the Refugee Council in Brixton and were eventually settled in Lewisham, South London.

The family began to settle down but things were tough to begin with. Everything was new, they couldn't speak English and the trauma of their journey had significant emotional and psychological implications. With support, Dr Nasimi's children started their education at a local school and began to thrive making new friends and learning "how to play again without fear." Within a year of arriving in the UK, he welcomed his youngest child and third daughter into their family.