Afghan migrants and asylum seekers are continuing to struggle after British, US and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan last year.
Hadeeb Sangin escaped through the roof of his house when the Taliban arrived in August last year.
As a 22-year-old prosecutor, evacuation was not an option and he was forced to make his way across Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia before he was confronted by the deathly no-man's land between the border of Belarus and Poland.
As a prosecutor, he was targeted with death threats by the new regime and claims the Taliban wanted to assassinate him. Further atrocities such as assassinations, Hadeeb says, were committed against those close to him.
He told the Mirror: "I investigated many Taliban people and those who committed crimes.
"There were various cases, such as terrorist cases, armed robberies, murder and family violence."
Hadeeb and those he crossed with, a group consisting of former Afghan National Army soldiers (ANA), found themselves stuck in a strip of land where people are known to have died and facing a terrible choice.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is accused of deliberately sending migrants and asylum seekers westwards in a bid to destabilise the region.
Hadeeb said: "Once I crossed the border into Belarus, the police caught me and beat me. They took my phone.
"When they checked my phone, they saw NATO photos with my mother. They broke the phone and beat me."
Underneath the cool summer night skies, the group was beginning to run out of food and water. Behind them was a Belarus that did not want them, a place where they had already faced beatings and their possessions stolen.
In front of them was the Polish border, partly reinforced with the help of British Royal Engineers, riddled with barbed wire and the possibility of more harsh treatment, this time from Polish border guards.
The fallout since the NATO withdrawal has been significant. One million are believed to have left during the deepening economic crisis between October 2021 and January 2022 alone, others have also fled fearing the due to the strict and brutal regime of the Taliban.
Most knew that their role in life in democratic Afghanistan would make them targets of the new, autocratic regime. Obvious prey for the now ruling Taliban includes former soldiers, members of the legal system and politicians.
Sangin's family, he claims, were at the centre of democratic life in Afghanistan. His father, now in hiding, a member of the national security services, his aunt was a respected member of parliament.
Despite the importance of his job back home, the young Afghan insists he hopes for a new life in Germany, even if it is a much simpler one.
"I want to live a calm life without stress and [I want to] study and have a good job in the future."
Less than a year ago, the world watched in horror as desperate people clung to the bottom of moving planes in a bid to flee the advancing Taliban.
The withdrawal was heavily criticised from all sides in the House of Commons, including the likes of potential Prime Minister Tom Tugendhat, who blasted the decision to abandon the possibility of a stable, democratic government.
He said: "The tragedy of Afghanistan is that we are swapping that patient achievement for a second fire, a second war."
The decision was defended at the time by US President Joe Biden who claimed the withdrawal was about ending a "forever war".
More scorn was poured on the situation by Theresa May, who questioned if it would be a bad look if NATO forces seemed to be reliant entirely on US troops also being there.
Some suggest the situation has also highlighted an apparent discrepancy with how refugees are treated, depending on where they come from.
Poland has recently welcomed over three million Ukrainian refugees according to a report by the Union of Polish Metropolises, but has been sending Afghan migrants approaching the border with Belarus back into the no-man's land
A recent YouGov poll asked the public if Brits are more likely to be supportive of resettling refugees from Ukraine, as opposed to people from other wartorn countries.
Members of the British public responded favourably to Ukrainians, with 71% saying they would support refugees fleeing war. Only 11% opposed the idea with the rest saying they didn't know.
The numbers for Afghan refugees are different and 50% - just 37% among Tory voters - of the public supported welcoming them, with 26% opposed to the idea.
Tim Naor Hilton, CEO at Refugee Action, said: “We believe that the public has huge compassion for those seeking safety. However, it is the Government that has sought to stoke up divisions by pitting one group of refugees against another, setting up bespoke resettlement schemes for some while creating an ugly deportation plan to Rwanda for others.
“What we need is a refugee protection system that is built on compassion for all those that need it.”
The Home Office rejected Hilton's claims, saying they were "misleading " and "unsubstantiated".
They said: "The UK has a proud history of supporting refugees in need of protection, evidenced by the almost 150,000 visas we have issued to Ukrainians via our two schemes and our commitment to resettle 20,000 Afghan women, children and vulnerable others”.
