A REFUGEE support group have highlighted the efforts of one asylum seeker in Bromsgrove who is working hard to build a life in Britain and repay the nation for taking his family in.
Kambiz Adeeb escaped from Afghanistan to save his life and find a new future for his family and has been promoted into a supermarket management position within two years of fleeing the Taliban.
He was an interpreter and a military instructor working for the British armed forces until the Taliban took back control of the country.
His mother had worked as an auditor in the office of the former Afghan President. After the regime change, Kambiz spent a year constantly moving between Kabul and his home city of Herat, to avoid capture.
But then he was on a bus that was stopped by Taliban gunmen who targeted four young Afghan soldiers from the former regime.
“They took them off the bus and they shot them right in front of everyone,” he said. “And that incident made my family force me to request to get out of the country.
“I was traumatised as well because it was really, really a dangerous situation. It was the most horrific. I may never forget that.”
Kambiz left everything behind and escaped to Iran with his wife, three young children and his mother. They eventually arrived in a Bromsgrove hotel, and now live in a rented home in the town.
“Our new life started in Bromsgrove. We feel safe here,” Kambiz said.
Since then, the family has been very grateful for the support of Bromsgrove & Redditch Welcome Refugees (BRWR) and many others in the town. “We are receiving tons of helps, love, respect, everything here. We appreciate that a lot.”
Kambiz has since been promoted to deputy store manager at a town centre supermarket. “I feel really proud,” he added. “I love this job and my colleagues. This is just the beginning.
”The Adeeb family is now determined to reward the generosity of the British taxpayer.“
“The UK people they spend a lot of money on us to save our lives. I work long hours so I can pay tax – the money we received, I want to repay that somehow.”
“And I’m trying to be at least good for the society,” he added.
Chair of BRWR, Yvonne Rendell, said Kambiz was typical of refugees who seek sanctuary in our communities.
She added: “Kambiz is a shining example who epitomises the truth about refugees and asylum seekers.
“These are people who have fled from often unimaginable trauma and simply want to create a new life in this country.
“In light of the appalling rioting on the streets in recent times, it’s important to understand how peace-loving, hard-working and grateful refugees are.
“There is nothing for us to hate or to fear. These are decent, kind people just like most of the rest of us.”
