Asylum-seeker sent back to his death

Abdullah Tokhi, 35, repeatedly pleaded while seeking asylum in Britain that his life was in danger because of a sectarian and political blood feud back home.

But the government at the time decided that Afghanistan was now a safe place thanks to the intervention of Britain and the United States, and Tokhi was returned to his village.

A year later he was dead, shot while walking in a crowded street in a bazaar.

The account given by Tokhi in his asylum application stated that the family originally lived in Bangarak in the Kalakan region in the north at a time when the ruling Taleban, overwhelmingly Pashtun, was persecuting Tajik people in the area.

After the US and British invasion of 2001, the Northern Alliance, predominantly Tajiks and Uzbeks, took control and began hunting down those who had helped the Taleban.

As Tokhi continued his efforts to stay in Britain, the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated, with regions falling into lawlessness. The Taleban moved back into this vacuum.

Tokhi's fears increased after reports that his enemies had tracked his family to their home in Paghman. Tokhi's application for asylum was turned down by then home secretary David Blunkett, as was his appeal. He returned to Afghanistan in September 2004 and was killed in 2005.

- INDEPENDENT