A young Afghan refugee who came with the same caravan as the 13 refugees who are assumebly lost their lives due to the cold weather spoke to Mesopotamia Agency (MA).

 

'WE PAID 700 DOLARS PER PERSON TO THE TRAFFİCKERS'

 

The 19 year old Afghan refugee who did not want his name disclosed, stated that they got on the road with 300 people. The refugee who said that they paid 700 dolars per person to the traffickers, said they had no money left and they are hungry. The young refugee who stated that they asked for money from their relatives living in Turkey, said if they will be able to recieve the money they will continue to some other city.

 

'THERE WERE 300 OF US AT FIRST'

 

The young refugee who told that he lost his father at the war in his country, said: "My father was a woodsman. There was a clash in our region and I lost my father in that clash. So I looked for a ways to flee the war and come to Turkey. Finally I met a trafficker in Afghanistan that helped us get to Iran for 700 dolars per person. We came to the Turkish border with 300 people after Iran. We walked to the Turkish border from Afghanistan.

 

'40 PEOPLE FROZE TO DEATH'

 

The young refugee summarizing what they have been through, said: "They told us it wasn't a long way from Afghanistan to Turkey. There were a lot of snow on our route when we got on the way. There were 300 of us. 40 of us lost their lives because of the snow storm. They froze to death.One of my friends died in that storm. We tried to help him while he was dying but we couldn't save him. We heard that the Iran police claimed their bodies. We walked through the snow. We didn't know where we were and then we learned that we came to Van. The trafficker in Afghanistan was leading us by communicating with the traffickers here. There was a woman in the group. I guess she had her family here. We never saw her after the storm."

 

MA / Adnan Bilen