“We crossed the borders of Iran and Turkey illegally. We travelled for week, eating only dry fruits we were carrying on us, before arriving at Izmir,” recalls Umar Farooq Bangash, a 34 year old resident of Peshawar.

“We were four hours away from Athens. We waited four days for the boat to take us to Athens. We were starving. To survive hunger, we climbed some wild trees and ate their leaves. We were arrested at the beach and deported,” he says.

Bangash was 16 when he decided to travel to Europe, illegally if necessary. His father paid Rs 400,000 to an ‘agent’ in Peshawar, who promised to take him to Europe. Umar chose Europe because some of his relatives were already in the Middle East and sending remittances to their families. He thought Europe would be even better.

Every year hundreds of men, mostly working class, embark on perilous journeys to Europe from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They cross the borders of Iran and Turkey to reach countries of their choice. If intercepted by the border authorities, these men are immediately arrested. Some of them face torture. Others die from starvation, dehydration and snake bites.

Travelling without a visa and crossing international borders illegally is a tough decision. These people often end up putting their lives at risk. Human smugglers take advantage of people who decide to travel to Europe illegally. The smugglers arrange and facilitate unlawful entry of individuals into another country in exchange for money. Their role typically ends once the client arrives in the destination country.

Bangash travelled in a group of 54 men. His journey started from Peshawar. First, the group reached Karachi. Next they moved to Taftan on the the Pak-Iran border. A group of 18 men was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency. They were beaten up. They were released after paying $50 per person to the officials. They were warned that the journey to Europe by crossing borders without documentation was full of risks.

While crossing the Taftan border they were stopped by armed men who demanded money. After paying the demanded amount, they were allowed to cross the border and reached Chabahar where migrants from the Punjab and other parts of the country also joined them.

After 28 hours of travel, they arrived in Tehran. They stayed there for a few days, then moved to Bandar Abbas, Shiraz and Tabriz. They finally arrived at Maku, near the Turkish border. To cross the Iran-Turkish border they waited for 26 days. More than a hundred men were placed in a small room, where they napped in three shifts.

At least 110 irregular migrants, including women and children from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia were now gathered to cross Maku mountain and enter Turkey at night. The journey began at 7 pm. It involved hiking on a tough mountain terrain.

Every year hundreds of men, mostly working class, embark on perilous journeys to Europe from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They cross borders of Iran and Turkey to reach countries of their choice. If intercepted by border authorities, these men are immediately arrested. Some face torture. Others die from starvation, dehydration and snake bites.

“110 of us reached the Maku mountain peak. There we faced a snowstorm. Some of us decided to rest there. At least six people said they were exhausted and refused to go any further. They were left there in the middle of a heavy storm,” says Bangash.

“The snow was four feet deep. While braving the mountain, we saw the dead body of a migrant, apparently killed by the Kurds. It was chilling. To make matters worse, we were not prepared to face storms or extreme cold. After 16 hours of hiking, 104 of us arrived at Van, Turkey. For four days, our fingers were not working,” he says.

They travelled through jungles and mountains. 14 days later, the group reached Istanbul, where more migrants joined them. They were accommodated in the basement of a house were not allowed to step outside. They were also afraid of being arrested.

“We had to reach Europe by any means. We had already endured the toughest part of the journey. We were acutely aware that we may not return to our homes,” he says. “We then went to Ankara and finally arrived at Izmir beach. We were waiting for a boat, when the Turkish border police arrested us,” he says.

They were kept in prison for one and a half months before they were deported to their respective countries. After spending four months travelling, Umar arrived in Peshawar where he was ridiculed by his relatives and humiliated by his cousins. “I attempted suicide. It was that bad. I’m still suffering from the aftermath,” he says.

“We were arrested at Tatvan, Turkey. I was beaten up by border security personnel. They used an iron rod. I used my hand carry to shield my head. By the end of this beating, I was blue with bruises. I cannot describe the pain,” Tauseef Ahmad, 24 from Charsadda, says.

Last week Tauseef Ahmad was operated for sciatica, a pain travelling down the leg from the lower back. He was then discharged from the hospital. When he was arrested, while crossing the Turkish border, he was beaten near the Iranian border.

“In our group, I saw two deaths. A woman, from Afghanistan died on Turkey's border after a snake bite. When we were arrested in Iran, a man from Afghanistan died in jail,” Tauseef Ahmad says. He says watching people die terrified him.

Tauseef and his three cousins had decided to travel to Europe illegally. They crossed Iran and Turkey's borders illegally in 16 days. At Tatvan, Turkey, they were arrested. After a brief prison sentence, they were deported to Iran. They had paid the agent $1,100 per person.

The Turkish border police released them near Iran’s border. While they were entering Iran, they were spotted and the border forces started firing indiscriminately. A man and a woman sustained injuries. “The Turkish and Iranian border forces were continuously firing. They did not let us enter their countries. We were finally arrested by Iranian border forces and deported to our countries,” he says.

According to the International Organisation for Migrants, “In 2023, Pakistan become the fifth most prominent country of origin for arrival in Europe.”

"We sold what we had. I couldn't make it to Europe. I faced mental stress and suffered from sciatica. Now I’m home and broke. We are still in debt. Not much has changed materially but I feel that I’ve lived through a lifetime of hardships," says Tauseef Ahmad.

The writer is a multimedia producer. He tweets @daudpasaney