The Struggle of Afghan Patients

A while ago, I came back from India, where I went for an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery of my knee. Being there for a longer period of days than the last times, it struck me that as soon as large number of Afghans starts pouring into any country; especially neighboring countries the whole society changes dramatically. Today I want to share some of the experiences and stories I witnessed and heard firsthand in different cities of neighboring countries. New Delhi in India & Peshawar in Pakistan are the two main cities where Afghans go in large numbers due to lack of reliable medical institutions in Afghanistan. And the locals of these two communities love to see Afghans who don’t know the language.

 Indians like many others nations know Afghan citizens by their currency name (Afghani), rather than Afghan. Whether it is a cabbie, Rickshawwala or the fruit seller on the street to even doctors, medical centers, Afghan students who become interpreters or Guest House owners; they all believe that Afghans come to India with pockets full of American dollars, and they must return empty pocketed to Afghanistan because they can fill it back up.

When in Delhi if you don’t have the common knowledge of Hindi or Urdu to communicate with locals, then obviously you are doomed. You will be charged 500 Indian rupees which is equivalent of 500 Afs for a kilometer long distance in a rickshaw. On the other hand if you go and hire an Afghan student who works as an interpreter to assist you in your doctor’s appointment; you will not be directed to a reasonable hospital with good physicians and equipments but you will be told to visit certain physician who has a private clinic. This clinic will not have the equipments and a doctor too will of low standards, but because the interpreter has prior arrangements with him/her you will go there.

The guesthouses have their own style of looting Afghans. You will be offered a small room with no TV; no air ventilation system but only has a bed for approximately 700 – 1000 rupees minimum wage per night. You will not be able to argue for a better room, because there aren’t any. Since Afghans rush into New Delhi everyday; guesthouses are almost preoccupied. A Muslim guesthouse owner whose two bedroom apartment I and my parents rented now owns ten guesthouses in the area. He told me with a smiling face that all of the wealth comes from Allah, and Afghans are the facilitators of the wealth. On the contrary to renting their guesthouses they also are money exchange dealers and take at least 10 dollars benefit in every hundred US dollars they change. Overall every day Afghans who can’t defend themselves verbally are victims of different scams in India, and no one is there to say a word.

At last what hurts me the most is to see some but not all Afghan students who go there either through governmental scholarships or pay in colleges and become interpreters. Instead of being any help they are another burden on Afghan patients. I wish this ends one day and our Afghan government are able to provide good healthcare services.