A refugee from Afghanistan tells his story

(Vatican Radio) On a day like Tuesday, when Pope Francis shone the light on the stories and the reality of refugees and migrants, millions of people suddenly become “somebody”.

Most other days however – as I discovered chatting to Kabir Hazara from Afghanistan – it can be extremely difficult for many to even feel “visible” in a city like Rome.

Yes, because even although World Refugee Day is annually celebrated under the auspices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and many humanitarian agencies and organisations have taken the opportunity both to highlight the plight of refugees and also to point out some of the recent and welcome efforts being made worldwide to help improve the lives of refugees and their families, the International Catholic Migration Commission, ICMC, notes the simple chain of shared hope and responsibility - one which begins first with seeing refugees and ensuring them protection from persecution, and then looks to sharing and seeking solutions: first of all, refugees must be seen.

Startlingly invisible, more than half of the world’s refugees have been in camps for more than 10 years and nothing seems to have changed.

Many of them seem to become visible only as “boat people”, or while crossing borders that are especially life-threatening.

But getting back to Kabir Hazara whom I met close to the Centro Astalli soup kitchen where he often hangs out, I was given the chance of personally getting to meet someone who has been forced to flee for his life, someone who told me of his dangerous journey across borders and mountains in the hope of building a future for himself…

He told me of a difficult past and of his hopes for the future over a cappuccino at a rather noisy open-air café in Piazza Venezia…

Listen to the interview…

"I was born in Urozgan, near Kabul, near Herat, near Kandahar. Urozgan is a mountain area with streams and fields and trees. It is beautiful, home sweet home..."