Every year the Afghan unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy are about 1,000. They are willing to do anything in order to reach the old continent, making a long and perilous journey just to get to what is considered the Promised Land. About 6,000 km through Iran (or Pakistan), Turkey and Greece, often by walk for avoiding police checkpoints. The landing point in our country is Rome, where they lodge in a makeshift tent city near the Ostiense station, before leaving for France, Holland and Scandinavia. This journey can last months or even years. It is a risky but required choice, given that Afghanistan is the second country in the world for infant mortality. In addition, approximately 90% of children receive no education and 43% of girls are forced to marry before becoming an adult. Not to mention the risks of war, the countless child victims of trafficking and of forced labor. Male, of Hazara origin, with an average age between 15 and 17 years and a low level of education, often orphan, but most of the times convinced by the same parents to leave the home land: it is the identikit of this typical “invisible traveler” emerging from the in-depth dossier realized by the non-profit organization “L’albero della Vita” (The Tree of Life).
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