The tragic tale of Vahid and Abolfazl Vaziri who were refused asylum and deported by the Danish immigration service displays the humanitarian holes in Europe's asylum system, while the EU remains gripped by the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.
Their story, exposed by the Guardian, began in Denmark where legal experts had told the Danish authorities it would be "reckless" to deport them to Afghanistan. Both brothers were psychologically vulnerable. Vahid was known to cut himself, Abolfazl had suicidal thoughts, and neither of the brothers had any family ties in Afghanistan.
Is #Denmark's govt responsible for the tragic fate of 2 young Afghan #refugees it deported? http://t.co/9in83j6ezH #dkpol #asyl #afghanistan
— Sune Engel Rasmussen (@SuneEngel) October 6, 2015
But in 2012, Danish immigration rejected their claim for asylum and argued that 23-year-old Vahid could look after 16-year-old brother, Abolfazl. After a long legal fight, the brothers agreed to leave voluntarily in return for US$3,406 and several days to say goodbye. But in June 2015, Danish police barged into their room at the asylum center, took them to the airport and put them on a plane heading to Kabul.
From there they traveled to the province of Wardak to apply for identification documents. It was here that Abolfazl vanished, while waiting for Vahid outside a government office.
Vahid returned to Kabul but traveled to Wardak to search for his younger brother every day. At night he would return to Pol-e Sokhta, an area according to the Guardian, rife with drug addicts and returnees from Europe of Iran.
"It's a place for people who are tired of life."
"They have no hope of things getting better," Vahid told the Guardian.
Vahid contacted the Guardian to say his brother had been killed in Wardak and sent his legal representative a message saying he had failed to look after his brother who was now dead and that he was on the run from Afghan authorities. Now, no one knows where Vahid is.
#Denmark: Thousands of people in Copenhagen gather in support of asylum seekers http://t.co/HqmqClU4yw pic.twitter.com/RKDMhGyV5N
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) October 7, 2015
Denmark has granted asylum to 6,703 people in July alone this year — more than the sum total of 2014. Denmark has also returned 599 asylum seekers back to their home country.
The European Union has agreed to resettle 160,000 asylum seekers among member states and Denmark has agreed to take in 1,000 people. The UK has refused to take part in the program, as disunity spreads across the EU. Croatia has closed its border with Serbia; Hungary has barricaded its borders with razor wire fencing and some Eastern European countries are looking to take legal action to avoid taking in any asylum seekers where far right sentiments towards immigration are growing.
The fate of Vahid and Abolfazl is an example of a vicious circle of desperation which starts in war torn countries, where thousands flee to reach the safe shores of the European Union, only to be sent back and end up in a place described by Vahid as "a place for people who are tired of life."
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts a record million refugees will claim asylum in Europe this year. And while they might reach Europe, their journey or fight for a new life is far from over, as the story of Vahid and Abolfazl suggests, it could just get worse.