Eight months ago, when Samad* fled war-torn Afghanistan with his family for a safe haven in Ukraine, little did the 14-year-old know he would be fleeing once again in less than a year’s time.
“It was a very big thing for me to come from war, and live in a peaceful place,” said Samad.
“This was very good for me and my family. I made friends ... I came to school. And the people were very [kind],” he said.
But for Samad and his father, mother and two siblings, the peace didn’t last long.
In the early hours of Thursday 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced “a special military operation” against Ukraine, hitting several Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, with missiles.
Russia's war on Ukraine
Sixteen days into the invasion, explosions have been reported at Ukrainian airports and military bases, and in major cities, such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv.
Western and Ukrainian officials have labelled many of the deadly attacks – such as the bombardment of Mariupol's maternity hospital – as “war crimes”.
Civilians have been trying to flee Russian shelling in freezing conditions, without water or heating and, according to a Doctors Without Borders official, the situation is “desperate”.
The UN says 2.5 million people have already fled the “senseless war” but many are still trapped in places encircled by the Russian troops.
“My family came here for peace. But when [we] heard fighting would start here … nobody could believe it,” Samad’s father Mohammad* said.
What happened in Afghanistan?
Samad and his family were living in a peaceful town in Afghanistan in July 2021, when fighting escalated across the country.
Mohammad had spent 30 years living and working in Ukraine and he decided to flee Afghanistan for Ukraine before the situation worsened.
Just weeks before the Afghanistan government fell and the Taliban took control of Kabul on 15 August, Samad and his family made it to Kabul airport.
Mohammad (left) with his son Samad. Credit: Save the Children
“It was war and it was bombing, and very bad says. A lot of people were killed in the war, so we left Afghanistan,” Samad said.
At the end of three days, the family finally made it on an evacuation flight, destined for Ukraine.
A new life in Ukraine
It was not easy for Samad and his family to leave Afghanistan.
“When the war started in Afghanistan we left our house full of things,” he said.
And when the war started in Ukraine, the family had to do it all over again.
Just when Samad was settling into his new life in eastern Ukraine – going to school and starting to learn the language – the family found itself in the path of approaching bombardment again.
“It was just like this in Kabul. A lot of people wanted to leave Kabul and go to a peaceful place. And [in Ukraine], a lot of people wanted to leave and go to a peaceful place, for their children, for themselves,” he said.
Once again, Samad’s family had to leave everything behind.
The road trip from anywhere in eastern Ukraine to the Romanian border usually takes only a few hours.
But it took Samad’s family 30 hours to drive through roads gridlocked by thousands of cars.
When the family finally reached the Ukrainian-Romanian border, their journey was far from over.
They were forced to sleep in the car in sub-zero temperatures for three days before they could get to the front of the queue and into Romania.
Samad said the overwhelming feeling of relief as they crossed into Romania was all too familiar.
“I felt well, because we survived [a] second war… Just like when I came to Kyiv, the feeling was the same when I came to Romania,” Samad said.
Call for help
Samad and his family are currently seeking asylum in northern Romania.
They’re staying at a reception centre while their documents are processed as some of the family do not have passports.
UK-based Save the Children – which provides emergency aid in natural disasters, wars and other conflicts, and actively campaigns for the rights of young people – has called on European Union member states to actively grant temporary protection to those who have fled Ukraine due to the recent conflict.
“Children and families across Ukraine are facing impossible decisions every day,” said Gabriela Alexandrescu, CEO of Save the Children Romania.
“The choice between retreating below ground to try and survive a terrifying onslaught or abandoning everything and escaping as conflict rages is one no parent should have to make,” she said.
Mohammad (left) with his son Samad in Romania. Credit: Save the Children
“To be forced to flee across borders twice in the space of months is almost impossible to conceive,” Ms Alexandrescu said.
Even though Samad’s family are temporarily displaced, his father is optimistic.
“Everything will be right. I think so. I hope so,” he said.
But Ms Alexandrescu said Samad and his family are the fortunate ones – those who made it across the border.
“Many people originally from outside Europe are [still] fleeing Ukraine and they need Europe’s help and protection,” he said.
*Names have been changed and the exact locations of the family in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Romania have been withheld to protect their identity. Save the Children and SBS News have received permission from the family to publish their pictures.
