6,000 Miles to Freedom: Two Boys and Their Flight from the Taliban

In Afghanistan, Adel and Shafi, two boys, try to have a normal childhood despite the war. When Adel's father dies, his uncle sends him to a militant madrasa, where he is trained as an insurgent. After his detonator fails, he flees to England with his cousin Shafi, seeking refuge. They endure a perilous journey, crossing mountains and fleeing through the Calais Jungle encampment. The story sheds light on the traumatic experiences of Afghani children fleeing war and poverty and the isolation they face in the West.

Format: Hardback
Length: 128 pages
Publication date: 10 May 2022
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

Two boys. One war-torn country. A world away, freedom.
Twelve-year-old Adel and his cousin Shafi try to lead a normal childhood in war-torn Afghanistan. But when Adel's father dies, everything changes. His uncle, a religious fundamentalist, sends Adel to study at a madrasa run by militants, where he is trained as an insurgent and chosen to carry out a suicide bombing. When his moment of martyrdom arrives, Adel's detonator fails, and he is forced to flee the country or risk being killed by the Afghan police or the Taliban themselves.

Together, Adel and Shafi set out to seek refuge in England, where Shafis brother now lives and where a new life awaits. With that hope, the two boys begin the perilous journey of 6,000 miles to freedom, crossing mountains on foot and squeezing into crowded trucks with other refugees. The two become separated only to find each other again in the Calais Jungle encampment, their last, hellish stop.

Based on numerous testimonies from refugee youth, this poignant, timely, and well-documented story brings to life the traumatic experiences faced by Afghani children fleeing war and poverty, as well as the isolation they often feel as refugees in the West.

Weight: 682g
Dimension: 193 x 296 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781637790212