Teen tells of terrifying journey from Afghanistan

Sayeed Taheer escaped Afghan violence but faced death on his journey to New Zealand, write ANGELA GREGORY and SCOTT MacLEOD.

After Sayeed Taheer's younger brother was killed during fighting in Afghanistan, his father sacrificed the family savings so Sayeed could escape the same fate.

Taheer is one of the 140 refugees heading for New Zealand today and tomorrow.

They had been due to fly out earlier but the crew of a chartered 727 from Dubai needed to rest over in Port Moresby.

Yesterday, at the asylum-seekers' camp on Nauru, Taheer told the harrowing story of his escape from Afghanistan.

Speaking through a translator, the 17-year-old told the Herald that he was the eldest son of an Afghani carpet dealer.

He had lived in Mazar Shareef, a city in northern Afghanistan, with his parents, two brothers and a sister.

Taheer said his father paid $US4200 ($10,379) for people-smugglers to give him a chance of a better life away from his violent home country.

The teenager said his life was in danger in Afghanistan. He would likely have ended up shot like his brother, as they belonged to the minority Hazara ethnic group.

Taheer's escape was a huge sacrifice for the family, none of whom he expected would ever be able to follow him.

They would not even know he was safe and might never discover what became of him. Taheer said it was very sad that he would probably never see them again.

But in Auckland yesterday, the Immigration Service admitted that there was a good chance that the families of Taheer and the 35 other teenagers among the Afghans on Nauru would be allowed to follow them here.

The manager of refugee services, Marie Sullivan, said it was "humane" to unite young people with their families.

They would stay at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre or placed in community care until their parents could join them.

Taheer was one of 433 mainly Afghan asylum seekers hoping to get to Australia on an Indonesian ferry.

When the ferry sank in Australian waters a month ago today, Taheer thought he was going to die. He was consumed with thoughts of his family.

Just four days into their journey the terrified passengers had ripped planks off the sinking boat to try to steer the rudderless ferry and bail out water.

The translator said: "At times Taheer was thinking one hundred per cent he was going to die."

Three months earlier Taheer had started his tortuous journey to Jakarta.

He spent three days trying to sneak across the border from Jalabad in Afghanistan to Peshawar in Pakistan.

More than once soldiers tried to stop him and he was very frightened.

Taheer was travelling with three other Afghans but has not seen them since they arrived in Pakistan.

He flew to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Jakarta.

After he and his fellow refugees were rescued off their sinking ferry by the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa they found conditions on board difficult.

But Taheer said they could only think of their gratitude for the crew and captain for saving their lives.

He said that when they were transferred to the Australian warship Manoora he began to worry about his future.

He was also worried about his family in Afghanistan after learning of the terrorist attacks on America and the looming war.

Taheer said he knew nothing about New Zealand but was very happy to have discovered at the camp that he was to be included in the group heading there.

The delays were frustrating but nothing compared to his earlier ordeals.

Taheer knew he would need to go back to school in NZ and it would take time to work out what he would do in the long term.

Asked what his interests were he said he liked playing soccer.

The spokesman on Nauru Island for the International Organisation for Migration, Mark Getchell, said he was impressed at how well the New Zealand-bound refugees had handled the delays.

The plane chartered to bring them was first held up in Dubai by the growing American military presence in the Middle East.

The crew then announced yesterday that they needed to take an overnight break from the Singapore leg in Port Moresby.

The plane was now due to arrive on Nauru at 9 am today.

It would leave the island an hour later.

The first 70 refugees, including pregnant women and children, were expected at Auckland by 6 pm today. The plane would then return for the other 70, who would probably leave Nauru tomorrow afternoon.

The Immigration Service's market manager (border and investigations), Stewart Kearney, said the refugees would be asked about possible criminal links on arrival.

Each refugee would spend 20 to 30 minutes at Auckland Airport responding to six pages of questions.

After a few days' rest, they would each go through an interview lasting several hours.

Auckland District Health Board medical officer Lester Calder said he expected the Afghans to have many health problems.

These could include torture or war injuries, hepatitis B, gut parasites, tuberculosis, nutritional problems and psychological trauma.

Mr Lester said there was no chance that the asylum seekers would bring in a dangerous contagious disease such as Ebola.

The refugees' greeting to NZ today will involve being sprayed with insecticide while sitting in their aircraft seats.

They will then to be fed, x-rayed, checked by Customs and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officers, fingerprinted by police and interviewed and photographed by Immigration officials.

Later, they will be bussed in small groups to the refugee centre in Mangere, fed stew, given clothes and shown to their bedrooms.

The centre's security has been boosted by guards, new fences and video cameras pointed down three nearby roads.

It could be two months before the Afghans are granted refugee statues.

Until then, they will live in the centre and be given $21 a week.