This Afghan photographer captures life in Calaís migrant encampments

Update: 2021-09-13

Description

When Abdul Saboor steps off the train in Calaís, France, the 28-year-old Afghan gets to work immediately. A group of eight Afghan boys approaches him, asking for advice about getting to the United Kingdom. Some are as young as 13 years old.

“There’s no good advice. … I don’t know what to say,” Saboor admitted.

Saboor volunteers his time directing migrants to what’s known as the new “Calaís jungle,” a field converted into an outdoor shelter and food distribution point for hundreds of migrants living in or near the northern city of Calaís.

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“I know their story. I know why they're here and I know how difficult it is to be an immigrant and have to leave your family."
Abdul Saboor, Afghan photographer and volunteer, Calaís, France

“I know their story. I know why they're here and I know how difficult it is to be an immigrant and have to leave your family,” Saboor said.

Seven years ago, Saboor took a similar journey.

While working as a translator for NATO in Kabul, he started getting threats from the Taliban, forcing him to flee his country and begin an arduous journey toward Europe, with the help of smugglers.

“It took two years and a lot of time. … We had to go through the forest … mountains,” Saboor recalled.

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A turning point came for him while living in a refugee camp in Serbia when a volunteer gave Saboor an old, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera after learning he was interested in photography.

From there, Saboor started documenting life in the camps and later documented the rest of his journey to France, where he received asylum in 2018.

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Today, Saboor is an award-winning professional photographer who has traveled across Europe capturing the struggles that migrants endure along the way — from police violence to homelessness and other kinds of mistreatment.

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