The Naked Don't Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees

“When does a migrant become a refugee?”<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />“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.”<br /><br />“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.<br /><br /> “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.”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />“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.”

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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />I highly recommend this novel. <br />

All five stars! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />I received a gifted copy.<br /><br />Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.jennifertarheelreader.com">www.jennifertarheelreader.com</a> and instagram: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.instagram.com/tarheelreader">www.instagram.com/tarheelreader</a>

Audiobook….read by Nick Nikon<br /> ….9 hours and 36 hours<br /><br />Unforgettable —unbelievable— extraordinary — riveting storytelling! <br /><br />A Canadian reporter disguised himself as a refugee in order to accompany his Afghan a translator friend to Europe —<br />Wow!!! Blows my mind still! <br /><br />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 —<br />frightening scary as hell - sad as can be - with the names changed for protection—was also poignant and gripping - I learned a lot. <br /><br />“Seek knowledge from the cradle to grave”. <br />Ha…. <br />But BE CAREFUL…..<br /> …do not try this journey yourself. <br /><br />Mathiew Aikins and his 60,000 pages of notes is one courageous guy.

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.

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.

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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Highly recommended.<br /><br />Heard about it from Tim Bousquet mentioning it in the Halifax Examiner.<br /><br />A short twitter thread of excerpts <a href="https://twitter.com/ChalicothereX/status/1648473280645591040" rel="nofollow noopener">here.</a>

I've got to say, I'm a bit torn on this one! <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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!<br /><br />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. <br /><br />Settling for now on 3 stars

An unforgettable story. I learned so much about the plight of refugees from Afghanistan and other areas in the Middle East from this book.

(<b>Note:</b> I received an advanced reader copy of this work courtesy of NetGalley)<br /><br />The premise of <i>The Naked Don’t Fear the Water</i> - 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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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, <i>The Naked Don’t Fear the Water</i>, 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.