“Living without family is not a life,” says Obaidullah Jabarkhyl, an Afghan schoolboy living in the northern suburbs of London. It is the first Ramadan that the 11-year-old is spending with his twin brother since they fled Afghanistan during the evacuation in 2021.
The National caught up with them, eight months after Obaidullah’s arrival in the UK. As he played ball games in the garden with his brother and cousins, there were little signs of the traumatic journey that brought him here.
Obaidullah was separated from his brother, older sister and parents after the attack on Kabul airport in August 2021. The family was on its way to the UK when a suicide bombing killed at least 183 people, including 170 Afghan civilians.
In the ensuing chaos, the two boys lost sight of their parents, but got on a plane to Doha, Qatar. There, while Obaidullah was sleeping, his brother Irfanullah went to the toilet. Obaidullah was woken up and ushered on a plane to Paris. Irfanullah, however, made it to London to be reunited with their cousin, Qamar Jabarkhyl, as planned under the UK's Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.
Obaidullah spent a year alone in the French city of Strasbourg, being cared for by another Afghan refugee before his extended family in London could arrange for his travel to the UK. “I was alone in the room most days, there was nothing to do,” he recalls.
The National first met the twins when they were reunited at St Pancras station last year. But their reunion was followed by sadness as they realised their parents and sister would remain in Afghanistan. “It is difficult for us to contact their family, the phone lines don’t work well,” said Jabarkhyl.
Obaidullah and his brother live with their uncle, but they spend most of their time playing with Jabarkhyl’s children, who live on the same street.
Every day, after afternoon prayers, the family meets to prepare for iftar. “Everybody gets involved in the cooking,” says Jabarkhyl. Irfanullah likes to make mango pickle, and to stuff dates with almonds. Obaidullah has a sweeter tooth. He prepares the sharbat, a lemon cordial. Their favourite dishes during Ramadan are kofta meatballs and gulab jamun, a milk-based sweet.
There are no ingredients that Obaidullah misses from Afghanistan. “Everything is available in London,” he said. He has also discovered new dishes such as pizza, which he calls “bread with everything on top.”
Irfanullah is fasting for the first time this year. He looked sleepy when we met him. “The best part about Ramadan is Eid,” he said — anticipating the end of the holy month. Obaidullah decided to fast for the first time while living in France.
Yet Ramadan may not be the only reason that Irfanullah is sleepy.
Jabarkhyl reports that the two boys often stay up all night talking.
“We remember stories from back home,” said Irfanullah.
Among the thing they remember is a ball game they played called dab-o-ghab, which means hit-and-run in Pashto. “Somebody throws the ball, and if you’re hit you’re out of the game. We often threw the ball at our enemies,” said Irfanullah, and both boys started giggling.
Their favourite ball game in the UK is dodgeball.
Jabarkhyl said that, for the twins, being together is important for their well-being. “I can see that Irfanullah's confidence has grown now that his brother is with him,” he said. Their transition to the UK, he added, was made easier by their exposure to western culture and organisations from Nato’s presence in Afghanistan.
But there have also been reminders of home. When the boys saw the old planes at the Royal Air Force Museum, they remembered the Soviet planes in Afghanistan. “They are at every checkpoint, as symbols of the war in Afghanistan,” said Jabarkhyl.
Despite his traumatic journey to the UK, Obaidullah has not been put off travelling. “My favourite subject at school is Spanish. I love to learn about different countries and places,” he says. Yet he does not want to go to France again.
His brother, meanwhile, still dreams of home. “My favourite school subject is science,” he says. “I want to become an engineer and help rebuild Afghanistan.”
