Afghan boy reunited with family in Denmark

By Burcu Calik

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AA) - Anadolu Agency has followed the remarkable journey of an Afghan child found half-frozen in Turkey's eastern Erzurum province last year as he is reunited with his family in Denmark with the help of the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) and the Danish Red Cross.

In early 2016, nine-year-old Abdul Samir Zaheri was found at a stopover in Erzurum’s Pasinler region by local people, his hands gangrenous having suffered frostbite.

His parents left Afghanistan with three of his younger siblings to seek refuge in Denmark two years ago, leaving him and his brother behind to come afterwards, Samir told Anadolu Agency.

Once he could wait no longer, he left Afghanistan with his uncle to reach his family, Samir added.

After walking thousands of kilometers in the mountains in cold weather conditions Samir's uncle was afraid his nephew would die and left the child at a Turkish stopover, where he was later found.

"We had no car. There was snow and ice. My hands swelled. After that they found me and brought me to the hospital. The doctors healed me and I was brought to a nursery school," Samir said.

The Turkish authorities searched for his family, who had sought refuge in Denmark while he was treated at a hospital in Erzurum.

After his treatment, the Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Policy placed the boy in a nursery school.

Hadis Shiva, an Afghan refugee who has lived in Turkey since 2011 looked after Samir in Erzurum. She describes the first time she met him:

"He was sitting in a wheelchair and was very scared. He was asking questions like 'Where are we? Will you bring me to my mother?' He was not even thinking about his recovery. The only thing he wanted to know was whether he would come together with his family or not," she said.

Before his departure for Denmark, Samir spoke to his family.

- Reunion

During this call, his father described their journey from Afghanistan to Denmark to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

The family had been receiving death threats from the Taliban which left him with no other option but to leave Afghanistan.

"We had so many problems that I had to leave two of my children behind in Afghanistan.

“We fled from Afghanistan to Iran, from Iran to Turkey, Pakistan, island of Cyprus, Greece, we passed all these countries. We crossed a death road. We walked 45 days in forests and crossed the seas with boats to reach Denmark. One of my children is still affected by this journey and can't sleep at night," he said.

"This cannot be described; you need to live it to understand," he said.

Samir said goodbye to the authorities who supported and helped him during his time in Turkey and became close to him, including the governor of Erzurum Seyfettin Azizoglu, before his departure to Denmark.

Arriving at Copenhagen airport with the Anadolu Agency and the Turkish Red Crescent, Samir was finally reunited with his family.

"I am reunited with my mother, I am really happy," Samir said.

Samir's mother thanked everyone for the support which led to their reunion.

"We thank the Turkish government, the Turkish people and the people of Erzurum, Kizilay and the Danish Red Cross. You gave me my lost son back. We thought we would never see him again. You gave him back in our arms," Samir’s father said and asked the Danish Red Cross for education support for his children.

"Samir is a child who fled from war, who spoke a language you do not even know, but you protected him. I want to thank you for your help towards refugees and people who are still living in war," he added.

After the procedure at the airport Samir left with his family for a refugee camp close to Copenhagen.