About the project:

Promises and Lies: The Human Cost of the War on Terror in Afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan is spreading, forcing hundreds and thousands of people to flee their homes. Ignored by the world’s mainstream media, a humanitarian disaster is taking place. Equal numbers of refugees and returnees are being displaced every single day and most of them cannot go back to their places of origin. They are forced to settle in urban slums near big cities, like Kabul, Khandahar, Herat or Jellalabad, where they have no access to job opportunities, schools and medical care. Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans are being deported from Iran every day, while others are forced to leave their Pakistani based camps where many of them were born.

In 2001, the world promised to rebuild Afghanistan. Eight years on, ordinary people are losing hope, as well as their trust on the Afghan government and the international community. The Afghans have not seen any positive changes in their lives after the Taliban were ousted. The introduction of this so-called democracy has been to them nothing more than broken promises and lies.

Last year I traveled to the south, east, north, and western parts of Afghanistan. During this time I became witness of a major humanitarian disaster, which is still ravaging the country, caused by the ongoing war, sever drought and lack of security. Hundreds and thousands of people are living in makeshift plastic tents all around big cities. With instability continuing in the South of Afghanistan, recently reaching the North, and with severe drought parching the country, people are fleeing their homes only to find themselves stuck somewhere else, displaced, receiving little or no support.

My aim is to continue covering the cost of “the war on terror” upon the Afghan people. As most of the world’s media focus on what is taking place militarily, I feel strongly that we have turned a blind eye on the extensive human tragedy that is taking over my country. I also believe that no solution can be ever found, if the world does not take a good look at the whole picture.

With support from the Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography, my plan is to travel several times to Afghanistan this year to document this very important and decisive year for the Afghan people and for the future of Afghanistan, and to explore the consequences of the war on terror on the Afghan people.