From the critically acclaimed BBC Two and iPlayer series Pilgrimage follows well known personalities of differing faiths and beliefs on a personal journey of discovery as they tackle some of the most famous walking routes across the UK and Europe. In this series the Pilgrims go to Austria in Pilgrimage The Road Through the Alps.
Nelufar and Steph chat with a refugee from Afghanistan, which has a special resonance for Nelufar because she was also a refugee from Afghanistan.
Transcript
Narrator: Nelufar and Stef have gone to the town of Bludesch. On the outskirts is a refugee centre run by Caritas, an international Catholic charity. Nelufar came into the UK as a refugee from Afghanistan at the age of seven.
Nelufar: It's one of the invisible things that make me who I am. But I am nervous.
Stef: I feel like this is quite a personal story for you.
Nelufar: Yeah.
Narrator: They're meeting Faisal Karim. He's lived at the centre for a year with other international refugees from a range of backgrounds and situations.
Faisal: Hey.
Nelufar: Hi. Good to meet you. I'm Nelufar. Salaam alaikum.
Stef: Stephanie.
Narrator: Faisal Kareem was brought from Afghanistan by people traffickers and spent a difficult year moving through various countries before finally arriving in Austria.
Nelufar: With his own eyes.
Nelufar: How important was your faith in your journey?
Nelufar: He says when you're a muslim, you're a muslim. His deen, his belief was always the same.
Nelufar: Wow. Here. He's free to pray or not pray. But in Afghanistan, he had to pray. So then. Which is faith, which is real? You know,
Stef: May I ask, what is your hope for the future? What is your dream now?
Nelufar: Just normal things really ordinary things that we all have.
Narrator: For now Faisal Karim has a job locally, studies German and spends time with the other refugees.
Stef: Thank you so, so much.
Nelufar: Bye!
