[Picture from same article - copyright irinnews.org,
21/11/2012 – Image Mujahid Safodien/IRIN]
21.11.2012. Hamid’s parents migrated from
Afghanistan before he was born and he grew up in Iran where life as an
unregistered refugee was hard, particularly after his father returned to
Afghanistan never to be heard from again. At the age of 15, Hamid paid
smugglers to get him into Europe using money his two older brothers had raised
from selling off their tailoring business.
Hamid was oblivious to the economic crisis
in Europe and particularly the impact it had had on employment opportunities in
Greece, the first and last European country he reached. With no money to
continue his journey, Hamid ended up unemployed and homeless in Athens. After
15 months, he was ready to give up and return home.
In
many respects, Hamid is a modern-day migrant: an unaccompanied minor - an
increasingly common phenomenon throughout the world - who was a refugee, but
became an irregular migrant and, after a relatively short period away, returned
home.
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