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The Naked Don't Fear the Water: A Journey Through the Refugee Underground
In 2016, a young Afghan driver and translator named Omar makes the heart-wrenching choice to flee his war-torn country, saying goodbye to Laila, the love of his life, without knowing when they might be reunited again. He is one of millions of refugees who leave their homes that year.
Matthieu Aikins, a journalist living in Kabul, decides to follow his friend. In order to do so, he must leave his own passport and identity behind to go underground on the refugee trail with Omar. Their odyssey across land and sea from Afghanistan to Europe brings them face to face with the people at heart of the migration crisis: smugglers, cops, activists, and the men, women and children fleeing war in search of a better life. As setbacks and dangers mount for the two friends, Matthieu is also drawn into the escape plans of Omar's entire family, including Maryam, the matriarch who has fought ferociously for her children's survival.
Harrowing yet hopeful, this exceptional work brings into sharp focus one of the most contentious issues of our times. The Naked Don't Fear the Water is a tale of love and friendship across borders, and an inquiry into our shared journey in a divided world.
Matthieu Aikins, a journalist living in Kabul, decides to follow his friend. In order to do so, he must leave his own passport and identity behind to go underground on the refugee trail with Omar. Their odyssey across land and sea from Afghanistan to Europe brings them face to face with the people at heart of the migration crisis: smugglers, cops, activists, and the men, women and children fleeing war in search of a better life. As setbacks and dangers mount for the two friends, Matthieu is also drawn into the escape plans of Omar's entire family, including Maryam, the matriarch who has fought ferociously for her children's survival.
Harrowing yet hopeful, this exceptional work brings into sharp focus one of the most contentious issues of our times. The Naked Don't Fear the Water is a tale of love and friendship across borders, and an inquiry into our shared journey in a divided world.
357 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2022
784 people are currently reading
19555 people want to read
About the author
Matthieu Aikins
3 books131 followersMatthieu Aikins is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who has reported from Afghanistan and the Middle East since 2008. He is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and a Puffin Fellow at Type Media Center. His first book, The Naked Don’t Fear the Water, about an undercover journey to Europe with Afghan refugees, was published by Harper and Fitzcarraldo Editions in February, and has been translated into six languages.
Matthieu grew up in Nova Scotia, and has a master’s degree in Near Eastern Studies from New York University.
Matthieu grew up in Nova Scotia, and has a master’s degree in Near Eastern Studies from New York University.
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March 22, 2022
“When does a migrant become a refugee?”
Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins spent seven years covering the war in Afghanistan. In the course of his work, he meets and befriends Omar, who acts as his guide and translator. Despite his serving as an interpreter for the Special Forces and having worked with USAID, Omar’s efforts to emigrate to the USA are unsuccessful on account of his being unable to procure all necessary documentation. As the situation in Afghanistan worsens and fearing backlash from the Taliban, Omar plans to emigrate to Europe traveling via the refugee route. He is reluctant to leave without Laila, who he loves but whose family opposes their marriage. Eventually he has to leave without Laila, promising to come back for her.
In August 2016, the author, disguised as an Afghan migrant (using the alias “Habib”), accompanies Omar as he leaves Afghanistan through a smugglers’ route, hoping to be allowed entry into Europe as a refugee. The author, in the process of helping his friend, hopes to gather insight and report on the refugee experience. He leaves his passport and paperwork with friends, fully aware that being discovered with a Western passport by the wrong people could lead to dire consequences. Aikins is also aware of how different his situation is compared to that of Omar whose family is escaping Afghanistan for the second time, the first being in the past when his parents had emigrated to Iran to escape the Soviet invasion. (“There is no future for me here. You have a good job, you have documents, you can travel anywhere you want.” He looked out at his city. “The only thing I have is my luck.”) What follows is a harrowing journey across borders, unsafe passages and dire conditions- all for the hope of a better future for Omar. Though the author and Omar do get separated in the course of their journey, they reunite in Turkey, travel by inflated boat to the Lesbos(after being duped by a smuggler promising to deliver them to different destination), becoming one of the many “boat people” arriving at the Greek island of Lesbos and the Moria refugee camp (“Built for two thousand people, by that point there were around five thousand crammed inside Moria, with hundreds more arriving each week.”) from where they move to a “squat” in Athens from where Omar continues his efforts to secure safe passage onwards.
“The right answer to the question of why you left was: Because I was forced. Because I had no choice. But what does it mean to be free in our world? The refugee is freedom’s negative image; she illustrates the story of progress that we tell ourselves.”
“The Naked Don't Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees” by Matthieu Aikins is exceptionally well-written, factual and informative with a fluid narrative that paints a realistic portrait of the peril fraught journey refugees and asylum seekers are compelled to undertake for a life of freedom and liberty that they are denied in their home country. The author discusses in much detail the places and people he encounters through his journey- the smugglers, the migrants and the activists and welfare groups. We also get to know more about Omar’s family and Maryam, Omar’s mother, a high school teacher, who will do everything in her power to keep her family safe.
“Maryam had become a refugee almost forty years ago, and yet Afghanistan was still at war. In the future, her grandchildren would tell her story to their own children here, to Europeans. But if Maryam’s tale inspired because of the long odds that she had survived, then it was also a testament to the many who had vanished. In this way, our stories carry forward fragments of others, just as we pass on our siblings’ genes, though they be childless.”
Aikins's accounts of life in the Moria refugee camp and the squatters' residence in Athens are particularly moving. He describes the experiences of migrants in foreign lands and the hurdles they have to go through in seeking asylum and how when faced with rejection of appeals and failure, they are compelled to resort to means and methods that put their lives at risk- a risk they are willing to take to avoid being deported back to the country they are fleeing from. It takes a while to wrap your head around the fact that this is not a work of fiction but an eye-opening first-hand account of events, focusing on the human angle of the refugee crisis that we might read about in the papers or works of fiction, but is the reality for so many people. This is an important book , the kind that stays with you. I commend the author for his courage and initiative in undertaking such a daring endeavor and sharing his experiences through this hard-hitting and thought-provoking memoir.
“We all have things about ourselves we’d like to change, and it’s seductive to imagine it happening in one swift movement. That was the dream behind migration: a fresh start. The journey was a prelude. Life came afterward, and it might be harder, more heartbreaking than the smuggler’s road….But in truth, we can’t leave ourselves behind. We get only one story, which we narrate looking backward.”
Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins spent seven years covering the war in Afghanistan. In the course of his work, he meets and befriends Omar, who acts as his guide and translator. Despite his serving as an interpreter for the Special Forces and having worked with USAID, Omar’s efforts to emigrate to the USA are unsuccessful on account of his being unable to procure all necessary documentation. As the situation in Afghanistan worsens and fearing backlash from the Taliban, Omar plans to emigrate to Europe traveling via the refugee route. He is reluctant to leave without Laila, who he loves but whose family opposes their marriage. Eventually he has to leave without Laila, promising to come back for her.
In August 2016, the author, disguised as an Afghan migrant (using the alias “Habib”), accompanies Omar as he leaves Afghanistan through a smugglers’ route, hoping to be allowed entry into Europe as a refugee. The author, in the process of helping his friend, hopes to gather insight and report on the refugee experience. He leaves his passport and paperwork with friends, fully aware that being discovered with a Western passport by the wrong people could lead to dire consequences. Aikins is also aware of how different his situation is compared to that of Omar whose family is escaping Afghanistan for the second time, the first being in the past when his parents had emigrated to Iran to escape the Soviet invasion. (“There is no future for me here. You have a good job, you have documents, you can travel anywhere you want.” He looked out at his city. “The only thing I have is my luck.”) What follows is a harrowing journey across borders, unsafe passages and dire conditions- all for the hope of a better future for Omar. Though the author and Omar do get separated in the course of their journey, they reunite in Turkey, travel by inflated boat to the Lesbos(after being duped by a smuggler promising to deliver them to different destination), becoming one of the many “boat people” arriving at the Greek island of Lesbos and the Moria refugee camp (“Built for two thousand people, by that point there were around five thousand crammed inside Moria, with hundreds more arriving each week.”) from where they move to a “squat” in Athens from where Omar continues his efforts to secure safe passage onwards.
“The right answer to the question of why you left was: Because I was forced. Because I had no choice. But what does it mean to be free in our world? The refugee is freedom’s negative image; she illustrates the story of progress that we tell ourselves.”
“The Naked Don't Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees” by Matthieu Aikins is exceptionally well-written, factual and informative with a fluid narrative that paints a realistic portrait of the peril fraught journey refugees and asylum seekers are compelled to undertake for a life of freedom and liberty that they are denied in their home country. The author discusses in much detail the places and people he encounters through his journey- the smugglers, the migrants and the activists and welfare groups. We also get to know more about Omar’s family and Maryam, Omar’s mother, a high school teacher, who will do everything in her power to keep her family safe.
“Maryam had become a refugee almost forty years ago, and yet Afghanistan was still at war. In the future, her grandchildren would tell her story to their own children here, to Europeans. But if Maryam’s tale inspired because of the long odds that she had survived, then it was also a testament to the many who had vanished. In this way, our stories carry forward fragments of others, just as we pass on our siblings’ genes, though they be childless.”
Aikins's accounts of life in the Moria refugee camp and the squatters' residence in Athens are particularly moving. He describes the experiences of migrants in foreign lands and the hurdles they have to go through in seeking asylum and how when faced with rejection of appeals and failure, they are compelled to resort to means and methods that put their lives at risk- a risk they are willing to take to avoid being deported back to the country they are fleeing from. It takes a while to wrap your head around the fact that this is not a work of fiction but an eye-opening first-hand account of events, focusing on the human angle of the refugee crisis that we might read about in the papers or works of fiction, but is the reality for so many people. This is an important book , the kind that stays with you. I commend the author for his courage and initiative in undertaking such a daring endeavor and sharing his experiences through this hard-hitting and thought-provoking memoir.
“We all have things about ourselves we’d like to change, and it’s seductive to imagine it happening in one swift movement. That was the dream behind migration: a fresh start. The journey was a prelude. Life came afterward, and it might be harder, more heartbreaking than the smuggler’s road….But in truth, we can’t leave ourselves behind. We get only one story, which we narrate looking backward.”
April 8, 2022
Thank you GR friend Sujoya for recommending this novel. Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins posed as an Afghan so that he could accompany his translator, Omar, as Omar flees Afghanistan. Citizens fleeing war ravaged countries are becoming a global humanitarian issue. This is a timely novel in that innocent refugees are facing insurmountable difficulties finding a new country to call home.
I chose to listen to the audio, narrated by Nick Nikon. I recommend the audio because the novel is a true story of a man’s journey. It’s akin to listening to your friend tell a harrowing story. Aikins endured the smuggler’s road to Europe while assisting Omar through the constantly changing political landscape. I became immersed in his story easily picturing every hazard and error. The story includes their life in the detention encampments in Greece. They escape, get caught, and start all over again. Smugglers are shady and unreliable. At times, this reads like a thriller.
I highly recommend this novel.
I chose to listen to the audio, narrated by Nick Nikon. I recommend the audio because the novel is a true story of a man’s journey. It’s akin to listening to your friend tell a harrowing story. Aikins endured the smuggler’s road to Europe while assisting Omar through the constantly changing political landscape. I became immersed in his story easily picturing every hazard and error. The story includes their life in the detention encampments in Greece. They escape, get caught, and start all over again. Smugglers are shady and unreliable. At times, this reads like a thriller.
I highly recommend this novel.
July 12, 2022
All five stars! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Reading The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees was a privilege and an honor. In 2021, I read The Road from Raqqa, a journalistic narrative nonfiction about two Syrian brothers and their journey to safety. I could not have loved that story more. If you haven’t read it, please check it out.
The Naked Don’t Fear the Water is a parallel journey, as Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Matthieu Akins, travels alongside his Afghan friend, Omar, as he embarks on the smuggler’s road from Kabul, Afghanistan to (hopefully) freedom and safety. The journey takes most of 2016 for different reasons starts and stops due to closed doors, denied paperwork, and terrifying danger.
Aikins shared in the author’s note that it took him five years to write this epic story. Not only is it filled with the harrowing adventure he and Omar took down the smuggler’s road, from Kabul, to Turkey, and Greece, but it’s also filled with a wealth of research related to immigration, the refugee crisis, war, imperialism, activism, social justice, nationalism, I could go on and on. It took me a while to read this narrative nonfiction (my absolute favorite type of nonfiction) because I was learning and absorbing what I read. The writing is precise, smooth, and easy-to-read, but I had some personal work to do in digesting it.
My list of favorite books has been quite short for 2022, but you can bet The Naked Don’t Fear is on that list. There’s so much more I could say, but I need to remember: less is more. If this interests you, please read it.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Reading The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees was a privilege and an honor. In 2021, I read The Road from Raqqa, a journalistic narrative nonfiction about two Syrian brothers and their journey to safety. I could not have loved that story more. If you haven’t read it, please check it out.
The Naked Don’t Fear the Water is a parallel journey, as Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Matthieu Akins, travels alongside his Afghan friend, Omar, as he embarks on the smuggler’s road from Kabul, Afghanistan to (hopefully) freedom and safety. The journey takes most of 2016 for different reasons starts and stops due to closed doors, denied paperwork, and terrifying danger.
Aikins shared in the author’s note that it took him five years to write this epic story. Not only is it filled with the harrowing adventure he and Omar took down the smuggler’s road, from Kabul, to Turkey, and Greece, but it’s also filled with a wealth of research related to immigration, the refugee crisis, war, imperialism, activism, social justice, nationalism, I could go on and on. It took me a while to read this narrative nonfiction (my absolute favorite type of nonfiction) because I was learning and absorbing what I read. The writing is precise, smooth, and easy-to-read, but I had some personal work to do in digesting it.
My list of favorite books has been quite short for 2022, but you can bet The Naked Don’t Fear is on that list. There’s so much more I could say, but I need to remember: less is more. If this interests you, please read it.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
May 14, 2022
Audiobook….read by Nick Nikon
….9 hours and 36 hours
Unforgettable —unbelievable— extraordinary — riveting storytelling!
A Canadian reporter disguised himself as a refugee in order to accompany his Afghan a translator friend to Europe —
Wow!!! Blows my mind still!
It was distressing and fascinating to imagine all the details —so many risks involved- negotiating with smugglers and interacting with refugees —but this true story —
frightening scary as hell - sad as can be - with the names changed for protection—was also poignant and gripping - I learned a lot.
“Seek knowledge from the cradle to grave”.
Ha….
But BE CAREFUL…..
…do not try this journey yourself.
Mathiew Aikins and his 60,000 pages of notes is one courageous guy.
….9 hours and 36 hours
Unforgettable —unbelievable— extraordinary — riveting storytelling!
A Canadian reporter disguised himself as a refugee in order to accompany his Afghan a translator friend to Europe —
Wow!!! Blows my mind still!
It was distressing and fascinating to imagine all the details —so many risks involved- negotiating with smugglers and interacting with refugees —but this true story —
frightening scary as hell - sad as can be - with the names changed for protection—was also poignant and gripping - I learned a lot.
“Seek knowledge from the cradle to grave”.
Ha….
But BE CAREFUL…..
…do not try this journey yourself.
Mathiew Aikins and his 60,000 pages of notes is one courageous guy.
June 4, 2022
Although I overall enjoyed reading this book, I had mixed feelings about the premise and the author himself. A Canadian citizen that passes as an Afghan, discards his passport and joins his Afghan friend Omar on the perilous journey out of Afghanistan as a refugee. This is not fiction, folks. He really did that. While I think it was brave in a way to put himself in danger in order to accompany his friend, the real reason he did so was for the story -not friendship. While there are thousands of Afghans and others attempting to flee their countries out of necessity, Matthieu does not have the same strenuous circumstances and visceral fears as the "real" refugees motivating him to do this. Although he does not shy away from the reality of his privileged identity, it does set him apart distinctly from the other refugees and the typical refugee experience. It felt like the story was not his to tell, and the beautiful cover art and publication deal could have been better used on someone that knows the depth of sorrow, fear, and will that it takes to not only make the journey as a refugee, but leave their home for another unknown and often unwelcoming place.
April 24, 2022
Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers for the hardcover ARC I won on Goodreads in exchange for a fair review. This book is 5-stars from the first word. Author Matthieu Aikins is clearly a journalist who’s able to fully deliver all of the sights and sounds and true essence of every scene. The plight of the Afghans is truly horrendous and the flight to freedom absolutely courageous. I love a great novel but there’s certainly something extra special about reading a true story you can’t get from a novel. The author risked so much knowing in advance his purpose of telling this true story so everyone else can know too about how brave these beautiful people are and how grateful we all should be for freedoms we so easily take for granted. Will never forget this story or it’s characters. Brilliant.
January 6, 2025
This was great. A journalist poses as a refugee to accompany his Kabuli friend on a dangerous journey from Afghanistan to Turkey, on a boat across the sea to Greece, in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, and in the City Hotel Plaza anarchist squat in Exarcheia, Athens.
Essentially, there are three things going on in this book, all of which the author handles extremely well. The first is a story about the hardship and plight of refugees, the second is an adventure story/travelogue almost like something out of an updated Tintin about the author and his friend's journey, and finally there's a more removed look at the geopolitics and philosophical/political background underpinning the story.
Highly recommended.
Heard about it from Tim Bousquet mentioning it in the Halifax Examiner.
A short twitter thread of excerpts here.
Essentially, there are three things going on in this book, all of which the author handles extremely well. The first is a story about the hardship and plight of refugees, the second is an adventure story/travelogue almost like something out of an updated Tintin about the author and his friend's journey, and finally there's a more removed look at the geopolitics and philosophical/political background underpinning the story.
Highly recommended.
Heard about it from Tim Bousquet mentioning it in the Halifax Examiner.
A short twitter thread of excerpts here.
January 14, 2023
I've got to say, I'm a bit torn on this one!
The premise is this: the author, a journalist who has spent years covering Afghanistan, decides that when his friend Omar is considering leaving the country and becoming a refugee to try and reach Europe, he will disguise himself as Afghan and travel with Omar undercover to write a book about the experience. This is non-fiction - the author actually did this. They start out planning to go through Iran, then get separated, reunite in Turkey, and cross the Aegean Sea by boat to Greece. The whole trip is filled with harrowing brushes with the authorities, smugglers, and the elements.
The writing was well done. I liked the intersections of philosophy and politics, which were woven in smoothly and added an interesting layer. I also liked how the characters (real people, but with identifying features changed) were developed and loved getting to know each person's backgrounds and personalities and quirks.
From the start, though, I was torn about the decision to center the author as the main character and not Omar. Another non-fiction I read last year, Refugee High, was also written by a journalist but the author faded into the background and didn't actually narrate their own experience, focusing on the students themselves as the narrators of their lives. In contrast, in this book the journalist was the central figure and it was about his experience own experience traveling alongside his friend and pretending to be Afghan.
I'm back and forth on my feelings around this. After all, every person has the right to tell their own story and this was his story of pretending to be a refugee - it is a true story that he experienced - and if having a central narrator who is a Westerner makes the story more relatable to a Western audience, then maybe it will reach a new breadth of readers who are now exposed to something they didn't know about previously.
But by telling the story from his eyes, I do think there is some complexity and depth that gets lost. We see the refugee journey through the eyes of someone who is pretending to be a refugee. While he experiences the same scary situations, he has the safety net of a safe home to fall back on. He doesn't have the survivor's guilt of abandoning home, or the fear he'll spend the rest of his life as a nomad. He doesn't have the yearning for the culture, food, language, community where he feels like he belongs.
Also, this may not jump out at everyone but the author is Canadian!! Canada has the largest private sponsorship program in the world where regular citizens can sponsor refugees to immigrate to the country. You don't have to be related or anything - you can sponsor friends, friends of friends, anyone. He could have easily served as a sponsor for Omar, Maryam, the whole family if he wanted!
So, rating this is hard. It was a well written book that lifts up the refugee journey for new audiences, but it had some problems as well.
Settling for now on 3 stars
The premise is this: the author, a journalist who has spent years covering Afghanistan, decides that when his friend Omar is considering leaving the country and becoming a refugee to try and reach Europe, he will disguise himself as Afghan and travel with Omar undercover to write a book about the experience. This is non-fiction - the author actually did this. They start out planning to go through Iran, then get separated, reunite in Turkey, and cross the Aegean Sea by boat to Greece. The whole trip is filled with harrowing brushes with the authorities, smugglers, and the elements.
The writing was well done. I liked the intersections of philosophy and politics, which were woven in smoothly and added an interesting layer. I also liked how the characters (real people, but with identifying features changed) were developed and loved getting to know each person's backgrounds and personalities and quirks.
From the start, though, I was torn about the decision to center the author as the main character and not Omar. Another non-fiction I read last year, Refugee High, was also written by a journalist but the author faded into the background and didn't actually narrate their own experience, focusing on the students themselves as the narrators of their lives. In contrast, in this book the journalist was the central figure and it was about his experience own experience traveling alongside his friend and pretending to be Afghan.
I'm back and forth on my feelings around this. After all, every person has the right to tell their own story and this was his story of pretending to be a refugee - it is a true story that he experienced - and if having a central narrator who is a Westerner makes the story more relatable to a Western audience, then maybe it will reach a new breadth of readers who are now exposed to something they didn't know about previously.
But by telling the story from his eyes, I do think there is some complexity and depth that gets lost. We see the refugee journey through the eyes of someone who is pretending to be a refugee. While he experiences the same scary situations, he has the safety net of a safe home to fall back on. He doesn't have the survivor's guilt of abandoning home, or the fear he'll spend the rest of his life as a nomad. He doesn't have the yearning for the culture, food, language, community where he feels like he belongs.
Also, this may not jump out at everyone but the author is Canadian!! Canada has the largest private sponsorship program in the world where regular citizens can sponsor refugees to immigrate to the country. You don't have to be related or anything - you can sponsor friends, friends of friends, anyone. He could have easily served as a sponsor for Omar, Maryam, the whole family if he wanted!
So, rating this is hard. It was a well written book that lifts up the refugee journey for new audiences, but it had some problems as well.
Settling for now on 3 stars
March 21, 2022
An unforgettable story. I learned so much about the plight of refugees from Afghanistan and other areas in the Middle East from this book.
January 19, 2022
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this work courtesy of NetGalley)
The premise of The Naked Don’t Fear the Water - a Canadian reporter disguising himself as a refugee in order to accompany his Afghani translator friend all the way to Europe - sounds like a succinct summary of a gripping novel. Although it’s very much a memoir of a true epic multi-country journey that Matthieu Aikins took, it definitely reads like a piece of well-crafted fiction at times. Aikins’ writing brought to life everything from nerve-wracking border crossings to the moments of much-needed hope with a spectacular vividness that made this work difficult to take a break from.
Besides recounting his tale of walking in the shoes of millions of displaced persons, Aikins also imparts a great deal of information on the current refugee crisis. Along with the general challenges of being a refugee that the author personally experienced, he also covered numerous related topics including the former traditional idea of refugee based largely upon Cold War politics, and explanations of the various treaties that wealthy nations use with less-developed ones to essentially serve as buffer states to curtail migration by those forced from their homes by war, poverty and climate change. To be honest, the scale of this book’s hearty educational punch completely surprised me in the best way imaginable. Despite having read several books related to refugees in the current day, “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” filled in several knowledge gaps that I wasn’t even aware that I had.
Overall, I immensely appreciate Aikins’ willingness to undertake such a journey alongside his friend and sustain it through, despite all the exits that the author’s privilege gave him along the way. The end result, The Naked Don’t Fear the Water, is a work that’s not only enthralling and eye-opening, but incredibly relevant in a way that will most definitely not fade anytime in the foreseeable future.
The premise of The Naked Don’t Fear the Water - a Canadian reporter disguising himself as a refugee in order to accompany his Afghani translator friend all the way to Europe - sounds like a succinct summary of a gripping novel. Although it’s very much a memoir of a true epic multi-country journey that Matthieu Aikins took, it definitely reads like a piece of well-crafted fiction at times. Aikins’ writing brought to life everything from nerve-wracking border crossings to the moments of much-needed hope with a spectacular vividness that made this work difficult to take a break from.
Besides recounting his tale of walking in the shoes of millions of displaced persons, Aikins also imparts a great deal of information on the current refugee crisis. Along with the general challenges of being a refugee that the author personally experienced, he also covered numerous related topics including the former traditional idea of refugee based largely upon Cold War politics, and explanations of the various treaties that wealthy nations use with less-developed ones to essentially serve as buffer states to curtail migration by those forced from their homes by war, poverty and climate change. To be honest, the scale of this book’s hearty educational punch completely surprised me in the best way imaginable. Despite having read several books related to refugees in the current day, “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” filled in several knowledge gaps that I wasn’t even aware that I had.
Overall, I immensely appreciate Aikins’ willingness to undertake such a journey alongside his friend and sustain it through, despite all the exits that the author’s privilege gave him along the way. The end result, The Naked Don’t Fear the Water, is a work that’s not only enthralling and eye-opening, but incredibly relevant in a way that will most definitely not fade anytime in the foreseeable future.
April 27, 2022
The story is pretty simple, and the core of it is well-told. The description of Afghanistan in the beginning of the book is deep and obviously well-researched. The pit stops in Turkey and at Moria are brutal, while the anarchist utopia at the City Plaza Hotel is intoxicating. However, his interjections of political theory and philosophy throughout the book don't help his story along, and ultimately, I wasn't eager to continue to return to this.
February 4, 2023
9th book for 2023.
This is an interesting journalists account of travelling with his friend and fixer, Omar, from Kabul to Europe.
This is somewhere between a three and four star for me. The author is too front and center in the narrative. There are four sections—the first section in Kabul, before they leave, is the least interesting to me, but the next three—from Kabul to Istanbul; from Istanbul to the infamous camp of Moria; and the final in section in Athens—have a lot to offer, and lots of interesting insights into the migrant experience.
I found Wolfgang Bauer's book Über das Meer: Mit Syrern auf der Flucht nach Europa (translated as Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe a much better read in this genre (admittedly with different nationalities using a different route—though at roughly the same time). Bauer manages to find a much better balance as observer, and while shorter is just a better read.
3-stars.
This is an interesting journalists account of travelling with his friend and fixer, Omar, from Kabul to Europe.
This is somewhere between a three and four star for me. The author is too front and center in the narrative. There are four sections—the first section in Kabul, before they leave, is the least interesting to me, but the next three—from Kabul to Istanbul; from Istanbul to the infamous camp of Moria; and the final in section in Athens—have a lot to offer, and lots of interesting insights into the migrant experience.
I found Wolfgang Bauer's book Über das Meer: Mit Syrern auf der Flucht nach Europa (translated as Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe a much better read in this genre (admittedly with different nationalities using a different route—though at roughly the same time). Bauer manages to find a much better balance as observer, and while shorter is just a better read.
3-stars.
August 6, 2022
This is Nonfiction. The author is a Canadian Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and in this book he undertakes a journey posing as an Afghan refugee trying to make it safely out of Afghanistan into a safer country with his friend Omar by his side. This was kind of sad because of how slow the process is for refugees to be admitted into other countries. Families often are split apart and sacrifices are made...and not just the monetary kind. The refugee camps seemed more like nightmares, but what made it worse was the not knowing of the how long, when, and where questions they must have thought about every day. Then add to that all of the promises that were broken.
Bottomline, this one left me feeling like it's always the wheels of the immigration system that gets the grease and the refugees get the shaft.
Bottomline, this one left me feeling like it's always the wheels of the immigration system that gets the grease and the refugees get the shaft.
April 2, 2025
I started reading this book with great skepticism about the tired trope of the privileged, intrepid male journalist who chases danger in war-zones, is lucky enough to survive, and then comes home to write about it and is hailed as a hero. It annoyed me that Matthieu Aikins thought this was a good idea — to go underground on the smuggler's trail with an Afghan refugee —and that several institutions also supported it. This kind of journalism is often dangerous, presumptuous and doesn't end well.
But somehow this book stole my heart, once I got passed the audacity and insanity of its premise. I think it's because Aikins told this maddening, heartbreaking story with such riveting and precise detail that this underground world — opaque and unseen to the rooted person — emerges for the reader in such sharp focus, we have no choice but to keep looking.
The story is told through the eyes of his protagonist friend, Omar, an Afghan refugee who used to work as an interpreter for the US Army, and through him, also tracks a seemingly impossible love story between Omar and Laila, the girl he loves who becomes his sole reason for making the harrowing trip out of Afghanistan. Omar and his family agree to be shadowed by Aikin and give him consent to tell their story, but the imbalances of power don't wash away with consent, and this is something Aikin grapples with — the incongruities of their circumstances and relationship — throughout the entire yearlong trip, replete with missteps and arrests, fear and longing, exploitation and delusion, heartbreak and rage. By the end, Aikin wove such a riveting tale that I kept turning the pages, hoping for resolve at the end of these mind-bending twists and turns the two took from Afghanistan to the West.
Aikin also does a masterful job of stating the political complexities that entangle refugee stories like a toxic web, entrapping people in impossible loops, transmuting acts to secure basic human needs into criminal moves and motives. The story centers primarily on that tumultuous period between 2014-2015, when at first Europe's borders opened to refugees and then as suddenly slammed shut, leaving thousands of refugees trapped on Greek islands as leaders played inhumane games of chess and roulette with peoples' lives. I was aware that refugees and asylum-seekers have to lie about their stories to cross borders, but I naively had no idea about the extent to which these lies run and that was illuminating, if not heart-aching. The narrative is a stark reminder that refugee lives are not just physically arduous but mentally draining because one's identity often gets buried under the weight of survival.
The book also illuminates how money works in the underground world of human trafficking and the extent to which entire shadow systems of economics operate just beneath the surface of "mainstream" life. I learned that so many secondary and tertiary players are in this refugee mix to make tons of money, from the smugglers themselves to the political leaders who make backroom deals to keep their borders "safe." I am grateful as a reader for these insights.
I wish Aikin would have acknowledged himself more in the narrative, leaned in a bit more to his role in the story and what was at stake for him. In a way, it felt like he used Omar as a shield against his own fears of self-interrogation as to why he was doing this in the first place, or what he might get out of it. But there's definitely brotherly love there between them and I get the sense that this experiment was born out of love. Still, it brings up many questions about the role of a journalist in reporting on refugee lives, and the many risks and rewards taken when lives are lived outside the margins of scripted roles. As Aikin presents as an Afghan on the smuggler's road with Omar, these lines sometimes get so blurred that I cringed to think of their potential fates.
But anyone interested in getting an up-close look at why and how migrants leave their home places and what's at stake when they decide to make the treacherous trek to a "better life" should read this book. It's fraught with complications and ethical questions, but it's a book I could not put down and made me see the refugee crisis through a fresh lens that once again centers on the individuals that make up what the media often portrays as a mass.
But somehow this book stole my heart, once I got passed the audacity and insanity of its premise. I think it's because Aikins told this maddening, heartbreaking story with such riveting and precise detail that this underground world — opaque and unseen to the rooted person — emerges for the reader in such sharp focus, we have no choice but to keep looking.
The story is told through the eyes of his protagonist friend, Omar, an Afghan refugee who used to work as an interpreter for the US Army, and through him, also tracks a seemingly impossible love story between Omar and Laila, the girl he loves who becomes his sole reason for making the harrowing trip out of Afghanistan. Omar and his family agree to be shadowed by Aikin and give him consent to tell their story, but the imbalances of power don't wash away with consent, and this is something Aikin grapples with — the incongruities of their circumstances and relationship — throughout the entire yearlong trip, replete with missteps and arrests, fear and longing, exploitation and delusion, heartbreak and rage. By the end, Aikin wove such a riveting tale that I kept turning the pages, hoping for resolve at the end of these mind-bending twists and turns the two took from Afghanistan to the West.
Aikin also does a masterful job of stating the political complexities that entangle refugee stories like a toxic web, entrapping people in impossible loops, transmuting acts to secure basic human needs into criminal moves and motives. The story centers primarily on that tumultuous period between 2014-2015, when at first Europe's borders opened to refugees and then as suddenly slammed shut, leaving thousands of refugees trapped on Greek islands as leaders played inhumane games of chess and roulette with peoples' lives. I was aware that refugees and asylum-seekers have to lie about their stories to cross borders, but I naively had no idea about the extent to which these lies run and that was illuminating, if not heart-aching. The narrative is a stark reminder that refugee lives are not just physically arduous but mentally draining because one's identity often gets buried under the weight of survival.
The book also illuminates how money works in the underground world of human trafficking and the extent to which entire shadow systems of economics operate just beneath the surface of "mainstream" life. I learned that so many secondary and tertiary players are in this refugee mix to make tons of money, from the smugglers themselves to the political leaders who make backroom deals to keep their borders "safe." I am grateful as a reader for these insights.
I wish Aikin would have acknowledged himself more in the narrative, leaned in a bit more to his role in the story and what was at stake for him. In a way, it felt like he used Omar as a shield against his own fears of self-interrogation as to why he was doing this in the first place, or what he might get out of it. But there's definitely brotherly love there between them and I get the sense that this experiment was born out of love. Still, it brings up many questions about the role of a journalist in reporting on refugee lives, and the many risks and rewards taken when lives are lived outside the margins of scripted roles. As Aikin presents as an Afghan on the smuggler's road with Omar, these lines sometimes get so blurred that I cringed to think of their potential fates.
But anyone interested in getting an up-close look at why and how migrants leave their home places and what's at stake when they decide to make the treacherous trek to a "better life" should read this book. It's fraught with complications and ethical questions, but it's a book I could not put down and made me see the refugee crisis through a fresh lens that once again centers on the individuals that make up what the media often portrays as a mass.
August 2, 2022
Uchodźczy szlak to nie jest wyprawa, ani podróż. To dreptanie w miejscu, cofanie się do punktu wyjścia i nagłe przyspieszenie, po którym może nastąpić niespodziewane zatrzymanie akcji. Książki kanadyjskiego reportera, który postanowił z afgańskim przyjacielem przejść uchodźczy szlak, to wciągająca i bardzo mądra opowieść o świecie, którego istnienia długi czas nie chcieliśmy dostrzec.
Historia sprzed sześciu lat. Iran. Góry Zagros, tuż przed turecką granicą. Grupa emigrantów pilnowana przez uzbrojonego mężczyznę. W niej Omar i Malik, uchodźcy z Afganistanu. Omar pracował dla Amerykanów jako tłumacz i przewodnik, ale w 2015 roku nie dostał wizy pozwalającej na ucieczkę za ocean. Malik to jego przyjaciel. Wychował się w Kabulu i był krawcem. Dla Malika to już druga próba ucieczki z Afganistanu. Rok wcześniej pożyczył od rodziny ponad tysiąc dolarów, by zapłacić przemytnikom, którzy mieli go przewieźć do Stambułu. Na tureckiej granicy złapali go jednak irańscy strażnicy i deportowali do domu. Tym razem musi się udać. Na Omara i Malika w Stambule czeka rodzina i Matthieu Aikins, kanadyjski dziennikarz, który początkowo chciał towarzyszyć Omarowi i Malikowi w ucieczce, ale sprawy się pokomplikowały.
Tymczasem Omar i Malik czekają na kolejnych migrantów. Gdy jest ich około 80, w większości Pakistańczyków, ruszają gęsiego “przez czerwonawe wzgórza usiane krzewami i postrzępionymi głazami, idąc ścieżką zaśmieconą zgniecionymi paczkami po papierosach”.
“Czasami migranci zatrzymywali się, by zrobić selfie”.
To zdanie wciąż mam w głowie. Piękno gór i potrzeba uchwycenia swojej w nich obecności wygrywa ze strachem, zmęczeniem i trudnościami sytuacji, w jaką świat wpakował tych młodych mężczyzn. Za chwilę dotrą do granicy, gdzie przez kilka dni będą próbować przebić się na drugą stronę, unikając tureckich i irańskich pograniczników. Ale selfie też jest ważne. Bo człowiek jest skomplikowanym stworzeniem, podobnie jak świat wokół
Właśnie to mnie najbardziej urzekło w historii opowiedzianej przez Aikinsa - że pisze nie tylko to, czego się spodziewamy, ale i to, czego raczej nie.
Ta historia zaczyna się jednak dużo wcześniej, w Kabulu, gdzie Matthieu, który ma wyjątkowo afgańską urodę, pracuje jako reporter i poznaje Omara. Amerykanie walczą z talibami, stolica wydaje się jeszcze bezpiecznym miejscem. Do czasu. Odwrót amerykańskich wojsk i powolne zbliżanie się talibów do afgańskiej stolicy sprawiają, że z kraju wyjeżdżają tysiące ludzi. Uciekają przed prześladowaniami i biedą. Aikins chce pomóc w wyjeździe Omarowi, nie ułatwiają im tego urzędnicy, ale i sam Omar, który uparł się, by wyjechać razem z ukochaną, którą ojciec uwięził w domu, przeczuwając, co się szykuje. W pewnym momencie dziennikarz wpada na pomysł, że będzie towarzyszył swojemu przyjacielowi w wyjeździe - by ją opisać i dać świadectwo temu, jaki los zgotowano emigrantom na kolejnych etapach ucieczki.
A może wszystko to zaczyna się jeszcze zanim Aikins pozna Omara? Przecież Omar już raz był emigrantem. Jego rodzina przyjechała do Afganistanu z Iranu w 2002 roku, gdzie znowuż trafiła jeszcze w latach 80., uciekając przed wojną. Historia Afgańczyków to historia wiecznych tułaczy. Granice horyzontu Mariam, matki Omara, gdy uciekała przed Sowietami, “wyznaczały Pakistan i Iran. Teraz jej dzieci należały do diaspory, która rozciągała się od Long Island po Melbourne, a ekrany w ich kieszeniach pokazywały im, jak mogłoby
wyglądać życie gdzie indziej”, pisze Aikins. Życie w jednym kraju i możliwość mniej lub bardziej, ale jednak dobrowolnej jego zmiany, to przywilej, którego długo nie docenialiśmy. To się zmieniło w tym roku, tym bardziej warto zajrzeć do opowieści Aikinsa.
Choć literacko to momentami książka nie najwyższych lotów, przegadana i zawierająca zdecydowanie zbyt dużo informacji, których czytelnik niekoniecznie potrzebuje, to w tym rozgadaniu tkwi metoda. Otóż autor próbuje nam pokazać jak nieprawdopodobnie trudne logistycznie było zorganizowanie wyjazdy z Afganistanu. Ile osób trzeba było poznać, ile opłacić, ile czynników wziąć pod uwagę. Nie liczyłem, ale w opisaną w “Nadzy nie boją się wody” (tłum. Tomasz Macios) historię zaplątanych było kilkadziesiąt osób. Od rodziny Omara, przez przemytników, po norweskich wojskowych na wodach Morza Śródziemnego. Każdy etap ucieczki (a dodajmy, że pierwsza próba była nieudana i skończyła się jeszcze w Afganistanie) to strach, niepewność, ale też inny układ polityczny. Bo co innego być uchodźcą w Iranie, co innego w Turcji, a jeszcze co innego przekroczyć unijną granicę. Aikins opowiada bowiem o tym, że polityczne decyzje i wydarzenia wywołują efekt domina, które finalnie przygniata wiele ludzkich istnień. I tak zamach stanu w Turcji sprawia, że kraj zamyka granicę, przez co więzi tych, co właśnie zmierzają do niego, lub w nim przebywają. Unia Europejska decyduje się na stowarzyszenie z jakimś krajem i wymaga od niego “uszczelneinia” granicy, co znowu sprawia, że wypracowany model ucieczki przestaje być możliwy. I tak dalej.
Ciekawym tematem, o którym Aikins pisze jest kwestia pośredników, którzy z jednej strony mogą być traktowani jako “handlarze ludźmi”, z drugiej - w jakiś sposób jednak pomagają emigrantom uciec przed niezbyt ciekawym losem. I choć oszukują, naciągają, wsadzają ludzi na przepełnione łodzie, czy wysyłają wprost pod policyjne karabiny, to w jakiejś mierze, też sprawiają, że ludzie ratują swoje życia. Podoba mi się zawsze takie pójście pod prąd w myśleniu, bo Aikins każe nam zacząć myśleć o tym, czy sami nie jesteśmy odpowiedzialni za istnienie systemu przemytu ludzi, skoro nasze państwa nie znalazły systemowych, godnych rozwiązań dla emigrantów. I kto tu jest gorszy?
Z różnych przyczyn Aikins nie będzie towarzyszył swojemu przyjacielowi i jego towarzyszowi w przeprawie przez Iran, ale spotkają się w Turcji razem udadzą się do Grecji. “Udadzą się” oznacza przepłynięcie tratwą do osławionego obozu Moria, choć pośrednicy zapewniają, że wywiozą ich na inną grecką wyspę niż Lesbos. Proces ubiegania się o azyl jest oparty na często rasistowskich założeniach, a emigranci powoli zaczynają sami dostrzegać, że nie są sobie równi… i tak się traktować. “Syryjczycy narzekali na innych, którzy tłumnie ściągnęli do Europy, chociaż granice zostały otwarte z ich powodu. Afgańczycy byli rozgoryczeni, że Syryjczycy spotkali się z większym współczuciem, podczas gdy wojna domowa w Afganistanie trwała dziesiątki lat dłużej, ale szybko stwierdzili, że Pakistańczycy nie są prawdziwymi uchodźcami”. Jak pisze Aikins, “Migranci uczyli się widzieć siebie oczami Zachodu”.
Oczywiście czytelnik wie, że Aikins w niemal każdym momencie może ujawnić swoje obywatelstwo, wyciągnąć paszport, czy zadzwonić do ambasady i z większości historii się wyratuje, ale mimo to są w tej książce miejsca, gdzie z podziwem patrzyłem na hardość i determinację dziennikarza, dla którego Omar jest jak rodzina.
To nie jest łatwa i przyjemna lektura, a cholernie smutna książka o świecie, który był dla nas obrazkiem z telewizora czy internetu. Do marca tego roku. Jak pisze pod koniec książki Aikins - “Niezależnie od tego, co nas dzieli, podróżujemy po powierzchni kuli. Wiem, że
nasze ścieżki muszą się przeciąć”.
Bardzo warto zajrzeć do tego, co Aikins chce nam pokazać na uchodźczym szlaku.
Historia sprzed sześciu lat. Iran. Góry Zagros, tuż przed turecką granicą. Grupa emigrantów pilnowana przez uzbrojonego mężczyznę. W niej Omar i Malik, uchodźcy z Afganistanu. Omar pracował dla Amerykanów jako tłumacz i przewodnik, ale w 2015 roku nie dostał wizy pozwalającej na ucieczkę za ocean. Malik to jego przyjaciel. Wychował się w Kabulu i był krawcem. Dla Malika to już druga próba ucieczki z Afganistanu. Rok wcześniej pożyczył od rodziny ponad tysiąc dolarów, by zapłacić przemytnikom, którzy mieli go przewieźć do Stambułu. Na tureckiej granicy złapali go jednak irańscy strażnicy i deportowali do domu. Tym razem musi się udać. Na Omara i Malika w Stambule czeka rodzina i Matthieu Aikins, kanadyjski dziennikarz, który początkowo chciał towarzyszyć Omarowi i Malikowi w ucieczce, ale sprawy się pokomplikowały.
Tymczasem Omar i Malik czekają na kolejnych migrantów. Gdy jest ich około 80, w większości Pakistańczyków, ruszają gęsiego “przez czerwonawe wzgórza usiane krzewami i postrzępionymi głazami, idąc ścieżką zaśmieconą zgniecionymi paczkami po papierosach”.
“Czasami migranci zatrzymywali się, by zrobić selfie”.
To zdanie wciąż mam w głowie. Piękno gór i potrzeba uchwycenia swojej w nich obecności wygrywa ze strachem, zmęczeniem i trudnościami sytuacji, w jaką świat wpakował tych młodych mężczyzn. Za chwilę dotrą do granicy, gdzie przez kilka dni będą próbować przebić się na drugą stronę, unikając tureckich i irańskich pograniczników. Ale selfie też jest ważne. Bo człowiek jest skomplikowanym stworzeniem, podobnie jak świat wokół
Właśnie to mnie najbardziej urzekło w historii opowiedzianej przez Aikinsa - że pisze nie tylko to, czego się spodziewamy, ale i to, czego raczej nie.
Ta historia zaczyna się jednak dużo wcześniej, w Kabulu, gdzie Matthieu, który ma wyjątkowo afgańską urodę, pracuje jako reporter i poznaje Omara. Amerykanie walczą z talibami, stolica wydaje się jeszcze bezpiecznym miejscem. Do czasu. Odwrót amerykańskich wojsk i powolne zbliżanie się talibów do afgańskiej stolicy sprawiają, że z kraju wyjeżdżają tysiące ludzi. Uciekają przed prześladowaniami i biedą. Aikins chce pomóc w wyjeździe Omarowi, nie ułatwiają im tego urzędnicy, ale i sam Omar, który uparł się, by wyjechać razem z ukochaną, którą ojciec uwięził w domu, przeczuwając, co się szykuje. W pewnym momencie dziennikarz wpada na pomysł, że będzie towarzyszył swojemu przyjacielowi w wyjeździe - by ją opisać i dać świadectwo temu, jaki los zgotowano emigrantom na kolejnych etapach ucieczki.
A może wszystko to zaczyna się jeszcze zanim Aikins pozna Omara? Przecież Omar już raz był emigrantem. Jego rodzina przyjechała do Afganistanu z Iranu w 2002 roku, gdzie znowuż trafiła jeszcze w latach 80., uciekając przed wojną. Historia Afgańczyków to historia wiecznych tułaczy. Granice horyzontu Mariam, matki Omara, gdy uciekała przed Sowietami, “wyznaczały Pakistan i Iran. Teraz jej dzieci należały do diaspory, która rozciągała się od Long Island po Melbourne, a ekrany w ich kieszeniach pokazywały im, jak mogłoby
wyglądać życie gdzie indziej”, pisze Aikins. Życie w jednym kraju i możliwość mniej lub bardziej, ale jednak dobrowolnej jego zmiany, to przywilej, którego długo nie docenialiśmy. To się zmieniło w tym roku, tym bardziej warto zajrzeć do opowieści Aikinsa.
Choć literacko to momentami książka nie najwyższych lotów, przegadana i zawierająca zdecydowanie zbyt dużo informacji, których czytelnik niekoniecznie potrzebuje, to w tym rozgadaniu tkwi metoda. Otóż autor próbuje nam pokazać jak nieprawdopodobnie trudne logistycznie było zorganizowanie wyjazdy z Afganistanu. Ile osób trzeba było poznać, ile opłacić, ile czynników wziąć pod uwagę. Nie liczyłem, ale w opisaną w “Nadzy nie boją się wody” (tłum. Tomasz Macios) historię zaplątanych było kilkadziesiąt osób. Od rodziny Omara, przez przemytników, po norweskich wojskowych na wodach Morza Śródziemnego. Każdy etap ucieczki (a dodajmy, że pierwsza próba była nieudana i skończyła się jeszcze w Afganistanie) to strach, niepewność, ale też inny układ polityczny. Bo co innego być uchodźcą w Iranie, co innego w Turcji, a jeszcze co innego przekroczyć unijną granicę. Aikins opowiada bowiem o tym, że polityczne decyzje i wydarzenia wywołują efekt domina, które finalnie przygniata wiele ludzkich istnień. I tak zamach stanu w Turcji sprawia, że kraj zamyka granicę, przez co więzi tych, co właśnie zmierzają do niego, lub w nim przebywają. Unia Europejska decyduje się na stowarzyszenie z jakimś krajem i wymaga od niego “uszczelneinia” granicy, co znowu sprawia, że wypracowany model ucieczki przestaje być możliwy. I tak dalej.
Ciekawym tematem, o którym Aikins pisze jest kwestia pośredników, którzy z jednej strony mogą być traktowani jako “handlarze ludźmi”, z drugiej - w jakiś sposób jednak pomagają emigrantom uciec przed niezbyt ciekawym losem. I choć oszukują, naciągają, wsadzają ludzi na przepełnione łodzie, czy wysyłają wprost pod policyjne karabiny, to w jakiejś mierze, też sprawiają, że ludzie ratują swoje życia. Podoba mi się zawsze takie pójście pod prąd w myśleniu, bo Aikins każe nam zacząć myśleć o tym, czy sami nie jesteśmy odpowiedzialni za istnienie systemu przemytu ludzi, skoro nasze państwa nie znalazły systemowych, godnych rozwiązań dla emigrantów. I kto tu jest gorszy?
Z różnych przyczyn Aikins nie będzie towarzyszył swojemu przyjacielowi i jego towarzyszowi w przeprawie przez Iran, ale spotkają się w Turcji razem udadzą się do Grecji. “Udadzą się” oznacza przepłynięcie tratwą do osławionego obozu Moria, choć pośrednicy zapewniają, że wywiozą ich na inną grecką wyspę niż Lesbos. Proces ubiegania się o azyl jest oparty na często rasistowskich założeniach, a emigranci powoli zaczynają sami dostrzegać, że nie są sobie równi… i tak się traktować. “Syryjczycy narzekali na innych, którzy tłumnie ściągnęli do Europy, chociaż granice zostały otwarte z ich powodu. Afgańczycy byli rozgoryczeni, że Syryjczycy spotkali się z większym współczuciem, podczas gdy wojna domowa w Afganistanie trwała dziesiątki lat dłużej, ale szybko stwierdzili, że Pakistańczycy nie są prawdziwymi uchodźcami”. Jak pisze Aikins, “Migranci uczyli się widzieć siebie oczami Zachodu”.
Oczywiście czytelnik wie, że Aikins w niemal każdym momencie może ujawnić swoje obywatelstwo, wyciągnąć paszport, czy zadzwonić do ambasady i z większości historii się wyratuje, ale mimo to są w tej książce miejsca, gdzie z podziwem patrzyłem na hardość i determinację dziennikarza, dla którego Omar jest jak rodzina.
To nie jest łatwa i przyjemna lektura, a cholernie smutna książka o świecie, który był dla nas obrazkiem z telewizora czy internetu. Do marca tego roku. Jak pisze pod koniec książki Aikins - “Niezależnie od tego, co nas dzieli, podróżujemy po powierzchni kuli. Wiem, że
nasze ścieżki muszą się przeciąć”.
Bardzo warto zajrzeć do tego, co Aikins chce nam pokazać na uchodźczym szlaku.
April 2, 2022
About 5% into this book I knew it would stick with me for a long time. An intimate look into the migrant crisis from a Canadian journalist travelling alongside Afghan refugees, focusing on the stories of real people whose lives are far too often being reduced to headlines and political talking points.
“When does a migrant become a refugee?” and “A single story cannot contain a whole life” are quotes I highlighted while reading and have been thinking a lot about.
“When does a migrant become a refugee?” and “A single story cannot contain a whole life” are quotes I highlighted while reading and have been thinking a lot about.
April 15, 2022
Somewhere between 4 - 4.5
rtc when I’m home from Italy!
rtc when I’m home from Italy!
February 28, 2022
“…our stories carry forward fragments of others…”
There are some books that come into our lives and change the way we see the world around us. This is one such book.
“The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” is the real life story of Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins as he accompanies his friend Omar (a pseudonym) along the smugglers road from Afghanistan to Europe to escape from war. Matthieu must disguised himself as an Afghan refugee to make the journey, and along the route across the Middle East and Europe the duo touch, and are touched by, so many lives and stories.
This book was eye opening. Of course I know about the refugee crisis, but “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” brings you directly into the harsh and unforgiving forefront of those forced to flee their countries and the political red tape that works to keep them trapped there. There is so much to their stories, and I’m appreciative of this book for letting me take a look into their lives.
It made me really reflect upon my own privilege as a Canadian, to live in a country with one of the most powerful passports in the world. The act of mobility between borders has never been at the forefront of my concerns, until I read this book.
Above all else, it shows that the refugees like Omar and his family are brave, they are determined, and they are all hopeful. They deserve the opportunity to have a safe life.
I don’t normally give a star rating to non-fiction but I absolutely rate this one 4.5/5. Truly a must read.
Thank you to Harper Collins and Matthieu Aikins for sending me a copy of this book. The best I’ve read this year by far.
There are some books that come into our lives and change the way we see the world around us. This is one such book.
“The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” is the real life story of Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins as he accompanies his friend Omar (a pseudonym) along the smugglers road from Afghanistan to Europe to escape from war. Matthieu must disguised himself as an Afghan refugee to make the journey, and along the route across the Middle East and Europe the duo touch, and are touched by, so many lives and stories.
This book was eye opening. Of course I know about the refugee crisis, but “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” brings you directly into the harsh and unforgiving forefront of those forced to flee their countries and the political red tape that works to keep them trapped there. There is so much to their stories, and I’m appreciative of this book for letting me take a look into their lives.
It made me really reflect upon my own privilege as a Canadian, to live in a country with one of the most powerful passports in the world. The act of mobility between borders has never been at the forefront of my concerns, until I read this book.
Above all else, it shows that the refugees like Omar and his family are brave, they are determined, and they are all hopeful. They deserve the opportunity to have a safe life.
I don’t normally give a star rating to non-fiction but I absolutely rate this one 4.5/5. Truly a must read.
Thank you to Harper Collins and Matthieu Aikins for sending me a copy of this book. The best I’ve read this year by far.
May 12, 2022
The cover art and the blurb got to me (good job, advertising). The actual contents feel more like a collection of unedited travel notes; most of the book has nothing to do with Omar (the Afghan refugee Aikins follows). It was torn between the story of a man wanting to keep a friend safe and a reporter urging the same friend to commit to dangerous experiences purely for the hype the story would get. I'm glad I picked this up since I've never read about Afghan refugees before, but I think the next thing I pick up on this topic won't be from Aikins. From one Canadian to another, it was a little disappointing.
December 30, 2024
Matthieu Aikins goes on the emigrant road with friends to escape the dark cloud of persecution that threatens them. He has more opportunity to escape the journey than they do, but loyalty and shared affections for those who harbored him in difficult times now needs to be repaid - and he does.
Harrowing, filled with the terrible costs demanded by bad actors against innocents, Aikins also tells a story with moments of care and concern given by strangers to strangers with the hope of a positive outcome. The hope of a home surrounded by peace and plenty, rather than rage, bombs and bullets.
A journey from Afghanistan to Turkey to Lesbos to Athens, Greece, this Canadian and his traveling tribe send out this tale of heart-pounding delays at every turn. Recommended read - just remember to keep breathing. . .
24/52:23
Harrowing, filled with the terrible costs demanded by bad actors against innocents, Aikins also tells a story with moments of care and concern given by strangers to strangers with the hope of a positive outcome. The hope of a home surrounded by peace and plenty, rather than rage, bombs and bullets.
A journey from Afghanistan to Turkey to Lesbos to Athens, Greece, this Canadian and his traveling tribe send out this tale of heart-pounding delays at every turn. Recommended read - just remember to keep breathing. . .
24/52:23
October 6, 2024
Excellent book. An insider story of the life of a refugee.
October 4, 2025
Verplicht leesvoer voor iedereen op het malieveld vorige week. Enige troostende in dit verhaal is de goede afloop, helaas voor velen niet het geval.
March 16, 2022
I also recommend reading Transit by Anna Seghers, published in 1942 about WWII era refugees. And the New Yorker article "The Secretive Prisons That Keep Migrants Out of Europe," https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20....
Excerpts:
"In 1989, there were only fifteen borders that were fortified with walls or fences in the world; by 2016, there were almost seventy, with more planned or under construction. Especially since the attacks of 9/11, these walls have been built in the name of security, and yet in practice they trace the line between rich and poor." (p. 108)
"When I saw poverty and war for the first time on that trip, I was struck with grief for the suffering of others, but only later did I see that I pitied myself, too, for living in such a world." (p. 114)
"The queues have agency and they establish something: any person in the prison who behaves in a more despicable and brutish manner has a more comfortable lifestyle." (p. 183)
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal, Syria (p. 186)
"You cannot disregard them if you accept the civilization that produced them." George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier (p. 201)
"Ezat's gaze drifted into the distance, as if seeing how own road ahead—his twelve attempts, the container of diapers in which he'd make it onto the ferry, the forty-eight hours he'd spend trapped inside, the church in Italy where he would take refuge from the police, the train ride without a ticket to France, the freezing alleys of Paris, the Champ de Mars where he would stand trembling in ecstasy, Hamburg where he would be granted asylum, where after two years he'd learn enough German to start university, his past as inscrutable to his classmates as his future would be to his family in Iran, living alone in body and mind, the cold of the River Elbe in winter seeping into his bones." (p. 266)
"Even if [Obama] is more progressive than Bush, or now Trump, he's still the representative of the main imperialist power that's responsible for the wars that made many of these people refugees." (p. 276)
"We get only one story, which we narrate looking backward." (p. 285)
Excerpts:
"In 1989, there were only fifteen borders that were fortified with walls or fences in the world; by 2016, there were almost seventy, with more planned or under construction. Especially since the attacks of 9/11, these walls have been built in the name of security, and yet in practice they trace the line between rich and poor." (p. 108)
"When I saw poverty and war for the first time on that trip, I was struck with grief for the suffering of others, but only later did I see that I pitied myself, too, for living in such a world." (p. 114)
"The queues have agency and they establish something: any person in the prison who behaves in a more despicable and brutish manner has a more comfortable lifestyle." (p. 183)
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal, Syria (p. 186)
"You cannot disregard them if you accept the civilization that produced them." George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier (p. 201)
"Ezat's gaze drifted into the distance, as if seeing how own road ahead—his twelve attempts, the container of diapers in which he'd make it onto the ferry, the forty-eight hours he'd spend trapped inside, the church in Italy where he would take refuge from the police, the train ride without a ticket to France, the freezing alleys of Paris, the Champ de Mars where he would stand trembling in ecstasy, Hamburg where he would be granted asylum, where after two years he'd learn enough German to start university, his past as inscrutable to his classmates as his future would be to his family in Iran, living alone in body and mind, the cold of the River Elbe in winter seeping into his bones." (p. 266)
"Even if [Obama] is more progressive than Bush, or now Trump, he's still the representative of the main imperialist power that's responsible for the wars that made many of these people refugees." (p. 276)
"We get only one story, which we narrate looking backward." (p. 285)
July 23, 2024
Literatuur dat iedereen, naar mijn mening, gelezen moet hebben voordat diegene een mening vormt over vluchtelingen.
February 12, 2024
The audio book was an immersive, riveting experience. The spare, unadorned writing made me feel like I could see the action. This story of a Canadian journalist going under cover and accompanying an Afghan friend on the refugee trail from Kabul to Athens is a story of friendship, focus, and immense courage.
I enjoyed the lines of poetry throughout, and the way he told the story without moralizing or giving solutions. He doesn't tell us what to do with our bleeding hearts for refugees but he demonstrates that telling someone's story is maybe one helpful thing to do.
I enjoyed the lines of poetry throughout, and the way he told the story without moralizing or giving solutions. He doesn't tell us what to do with our bleeding hearts for refugees but he demonstrates that telling someone's story is maybe one helpful thing to do.
September 11, 2022
I think I liked this book. But there is also something in me that felt really uncomfortable with the entire premise of the project. It felt a little... I don't know, self-serving? Almost voyeuristic? I didn't think it was possible, but he still felt detached from the whole process, somehow both immersed and also invincible.
The portrayal of Omar felt unkind, and a lot of the plot felt like the author forcing Omar and the others to make decisions so he could continue. I was not a fan of that.
The portrayal of Omar felt unkind, and a lot of the plot felt like the author forcing Omar and the others to make decisions so he could continue. I was not a fan of that.
August 1, 2024
update, voel me schuldig. Toch twee sterren want t had wel goede stukken maar het was gewoon ech het boek niet voor mij.
Had 150 pagina’s minder kunnen hebben en meer over de reis zelf praten, dan was t echt een veeeel beter boek. nu te veel omheen geschreven dus kon mn focus er echt niet bijhouden
Had 150 pagina’s minder kunnen hebben en meer over de reis zelf praten, dan was t echt een veeeel beter boek. nu te veel omheen geschreven dus kon mn focus er echt niet bijhouden
August 8, 2022
W 2016 roku młody afgański kierowca i tłumacz, Omar postanowił uciec z rodzinnego Afganistanu i poszukać wolności w Europie. W tej niebezpiecznej podróży pomoga mu przyjaciel, kanadyjski dziennikarz Matthieu Aikins, autor tego poruszającego reportażu.
Aikins zostawia swój kanadyjski paszport, a ponieważ ma afgańską urodę, wciela się w migranta, uchodźcę.
Prosty plan okazuje się niebezpieczną i ryzykowną grą. Zdesperowani ludzie powierzają swoje życie przemytnikom, przestępcom, a ich ludzkim losem często rządzi przypadek.
Zdjęcie małego chłopca leżącego z twarzą w piasku, obiegło cały świat wywołując silne emocje, Morze Śródziemne wyrzuca na plaże tysiące ciał mężczyzn, kobiet i dzieci.
Kryzys migracyjny wzbudza kontrowersje, ale jakby to było, gdyby to nam przyszło szukać nowego bezpiecznego miejsca do życia. Jako Europejczycy czujemy się względnie wolni i bezpieczni, jednak wystarczy, że dramat rozgrywa się tuż obok nas i zaczynamy zdawać sobie sprawę, że ta wolność może w każdym momencie zostać nam odebrana, poczucie bezpieczeństwa maleje, niepewność narasta, niepokoi i przeraża.
Obrazy z greckich obozów dla uchodźców to chyba najbardziej poruszające rozdziały tej książki.
Z jednej strony współczujemy, z drugiej boimy się tego, co nieznane i tego, co przynoszą ludzie z innych lądów. Dramatyczne sytuacje wykorzystywane są przez organizacje terrorystyczne noszące śmierć, nas zamykają na tych, którym przyszło szukać wolności i lepszego życia w Europie.
"Nadzy nie boją się wody" to lektura dla tych, którzy chcą zrozumieć, mimo tego, że miejsce, ludzie i kultury, o których pisze Aikins są tak odległe, obce i często niezrozumiałe dla nas Europejczyków.
Dziennikarski pamiętnik Aikinsa, napisany z empatią i głębokim zrozumieniem, wykorzystuje historię przyjaciela, aby przekazać historię tysięcy. Przyznam, że reportaż jest zdumiewająco szczegółowy, wstrząsający i trzymający w napięciu. Kolejne okno otwierające nas na mroczną stronę świata.
Polecam.
Aikins zostawia swój kanadyjski paszport, a ponieważ ma afgańską urodę, wciela się w migranta, uchodźcę.
Prosty plan okazuje się niebezpieczną i ryzykowną grą. Zdesperowani ludzie powierzają swoje życie przemytnikom, przestępcom, a ich ludzkim losem często rządzi przypadek.
Zdjęcie małego chłopca leżącego z twarzą w piasku, obiegło cały świat wywołując silne emocje, Morze Śródziemne wyrzuca na plaże tysiące ciał mężczyzn, kobiet i dzieci.
Kryzys migracyjny wzbudza kontrowersje, ale jakby to było, gdyby to nam przyszło szukać nowego bezpiecznego miejsca do życia. Jako Europejczycy czujemy się względnie wolni i bezpieczni, jednak wystarczy, że dramat rozgrywa się tuż obok nas i zaczynamy zdawać sobie sprawę, że ta wolność może w każdym momencie zostać nam odebrana, poczucie bezpieczeństwa maleje, niepewność narasta, niepokoi i przeraża.
Obrazy z greckich obozów dla uchodźców to chyba najbardziej poruszające rozdziały tej książki.
Z jednej strony współczujemy, z drugiej boimy się tego, co nieznane i tego, co przynoszą ludzie z innych lądów. Dramatyczne sytuacje wykorzystywane są przez organizacje terrorystyczne noszące śmierć, nas zamykają na tych, którym przyszło szukać wolności i lepszego życia w Europie.
"Nadzy nie boją się wody" to lektura dla tych, którzy chcą zrozumieć, mimo tego, że miejsce, ludzie i kultury, o których pisze Aikins są tak odległe, obce i często niezrozumiałe dla nas Europejczyków.
Dziennikarski pamiętnik Aikinsa, napisany z empatią i głębokim zrozumieniem, wykorzystuje historię przyjaciela, aby przekazać historię tysięcy. Przyznam, że reportaż jest zdumiewająco szczegółowy, wstrząsający i trzymający w napięciu. Kolejne okno otwierające nas na mroczną stronę świata.
Polecam.
March 25, 2025
4.5/5
What a factually and emotionally packed book. A full fledged experience of the migrants road from Afghanistan to Europe. I’m left feeling a helplesness of where we (the west) are as a society, where we hide behind make-belive borders and our passports. It is even more daunting realizing how close we were to being on a better path, and how we not only learnt nothing, but allowed ourselves to tumble into hatred and nationalism. That is not to say there is not hope and success to be found in this book, because there absolutely is. Otherwise, what would be the point?
What a factually and emotionally packed book. A full fledged experience of the migrants road from Afghanistan to Europe. I’m left feeling a helplesness of where we (the west) are as a society, where we hide behind make-belive borders and our passports. It is even more daunting realizing how close we were to being on a better path, and how we not only learnt nothing, but allowed ourselves to tumble into hatred and nationalism. That is not to say there is not hope and success to be found in this book, because there absolutely is. Otherwise, what would be the point?
January 17, 2024
This is a book I won’t forget for a long time.
I don’t know why I originally thought that book would be a series of short stories, that’s not what it is at all
I’m not sure if this Canadian journalist no longer has any value for his own life or is just super arrogant, but he takes it upon himself to become a refugee alongside his Afghan friend.
Follows their journey and lots of background information on the state of refugee migration in the world, both in depth. But the most fascinating part of this story to me was how well it highlighted passport privilege. We literally are the tiny papers we carry around with us, and without them, moving around the world is not possible.
So much interesting stuff to think about.
I don’t know why I originally thought that book would be a series of short stories, that’s not what it is at all
I’m not sure if this Canadian journalist no longer has any value for his own life or is just super arrogant, but he takes it upon himself to become a refugee alongside his Afghan friend.
Follows their journey and lots of background information on the state of refugee migration in the world, both in depth. But the most fascinating part of this story to me was how well it highlighted passport privilege. We literally are the tiny papers we carry around with us, and without them, moving around the world is not possible.
So much interesting stuff to think about.
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