![Waiting behind a police fence with hundreds of other Afghan asylum seekers, Hamayoon Ziraki (centre) watches as Syrian families are selected to board buses provided by Slovenian authorities to cross the border and transport them onward towards Austria. The 19-year-old physics teacher says he has already waited three days on the Croatian side of the border checkpoint. “They don’t let Afghans get on the bus or trains. They say we are Taliban or Da’esh [ISIS].” He says he was arrested in Afghanistan and jailed by the Taliban for six days, during which time they threatened to cut off his hands and feet. They accused him of working with the Americans because he spoke English. After that, he decided to flee to Europe.](http://static1.squarespace.com/static/545d219be4b079130f42a75c/t/564223b1e4b061de63b10c67/1447175279219/?format=1000w)
Khalid graduated in 2013, but his family’s joy was short-lived. Crippled by war, Afghanistan’s economy is in a shambles and so is its medical system. Khalid struggled to find work, finally taking a non-medical job with an international NGO, which pulled out of the country months later.
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