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From bitcoin dreamer to fugitive, fleeing the Taliban for Turkey

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Ali Kucukgocmen, Agence France-Presse

<p>TATVAN - Muhammad Ali said he dreamt of building a cryptocurrency business before the Taliban began its sweep through Afghanistan, forcing him into a daunting journey west through Iran and Turkey, evading border guards and security searches as he went.</p><p>The Taliban victory in Afghanistan has raised concern in Turkey, a staging post for many migrants trying to reach Europe and already home to nearly 4 million Syrians, of a new influx of refugees. It has ramped up security on its border https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-conflict-turkey-migrants-idAFKBN2FN0HS with Iran - but some Afghans are still getting through.</p><p>Sheltering in a drainage tunnel outside the Tatvan district of Turkey&#x27;s eastern Bitlis province, Ali, a young man in his 20s from Afghanistan&#x27;s Khost province, said he was waiting for transport west and wanted to go on to Europe. Around 50 others were sheltering with him.</p><p>Ali said he had studied computer science and taught web and graphic design in Afghanistan. He said he had a YouTube channel where he posted videos on topics including how to make money online.</p><p>&quot;I was planning a bitcoin or ethereum mining business... Suddenly everything changed and the Taliban took over all of Afghanistan,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;There is no internet. If there is no internet, I cannot do my job there. If we had smartphones that had a camera, the Taliban wouldn&#x27;t allow it.&quot;</p><p>After trekking for weeks through Iran, migrants who enter Turkey&#x27;s eastern province of Van make their way by foot, bus or boat to the town of Tatvan on the western shores of Lake Van.</p><p>On their way they try to evade police checkpoints, raids on their hideouts and coast guard vessels which patrol the huge lake, where a boat carrying around 60 migrants sank last year, killing them all.</p><p>Wais Muhammad Shehrzad, 30, said he left Afghanistan a month ago, paying $1,000 to traffickers and walking up to 50 hours at a time with little sustenance on the way.</p><p>&quot;Our feet are blistered, we have no clothes, no food,&quot; he said, taking off his shoes to show a bruised ankle, and telling others in the group to sit down to avoid being seen.</p><p>Shehrzad said he was from Kabul and had worked as a shoemaker and previously as an English teacher. He wanted to get to Istanbul, find work, and send money back to his family.</p><p>In recent weeks Turkish police have detained thousands of Afghan migrants among an estimated 300,000 in the country. Those caught in Bitlis are sent to a repatriation center in Van, although Afghans are currently not sent back to their country because of the turmoil there.</p><p>A day after he spoke to Reuters, Ali sent a text message. &quot;We are arrested by police,&quot; it said. </p><div><strong>(Additional reporting by Parniyan Zemaryalai in London; Editing by Dominic Evans and Nick Tattersall)</strong></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/22/21/afghanistans-massoud-refuses-to-surrender-to-taliban">Afghanistan&#x27;s Massoud refuses to surrender to Taliban and warns of war - al-Arabiya</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/25/21/china-the-taliban-and-threats-from-illegal-drug-trade">China, the Taliban and the threats from the illegal drug trade</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1755890" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Muhammad Ali said he dreamt of building a cryptocurrency business before the Taliban began its sweep through Afghanistan.

From bitcoin dreamer to fugitive, fleeing the Taliban for Turkey

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From bitcoin dreamer to fugitive, fleeing the Taliban for Turkey

Ali Kucukgocmen,

Agence France-Presse

Published August 25, 2021 05:40 PM PHT

Read More:

Afghanistan

Taliban

cryptocurrency

bitcoin

ethereum

refugees

Islamic extremism

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