12 At the Iranian-Turkish border, both the Iranian and Turkish border forces opened fire on us. Fortunately, nobody was harmed. The tracks were torturous and arduous. Some of us could no longer walk and were left behind in those mountains. Close to the Turkish border, there was a high black mountain. I saw rotten and decaying bodies and skeletons of human beings there…the smell of those decaying bodies was so devastating…1 Most stories were extremely depressing. The deportees said that they still felt deeply shaken when recalling those scenes and that they are still haunted by those traumatic memories. Kidnapping and Torture for Ransom Criminal networks, alone or in collaboration with human smugglers, frequently kidnap the refugees en route to their destination. The perpetrators harass and often torture their captives by cutting off their ears and noses, extracting their finger nails and beating them. They do not free their victims unless they receive significant amounts of money in return. One of the interviewees described his story: While I was travelling from Afghanistan to Iran, the thieves kidnapped us in the border province of Kerman Shah of Iran. The thieves kept us for three days and three nights in an underground refuge. They freed us after we each paid about 1,500 USD as ransom2. About 36% (18) of the deportees, stated that either they or one of their fellow travellers were kidnapped, beaten up and tortured by criminal actors and were ultimately forced to purchase their freedom through arranging ransoms to their captors. Kidnapping for ransom, a growing industry along the major flight routes, increases the miseries and financial costs for the population escaping war and conflict situations. One of the interviewees shared his experience: We were a group for 10 people including my brother. The smugglers were taking us one by one from the Iranian side of the border to the Turkish side. I was the only one who made it. The Turkish smugglers kidnapped the rest of our group. They asked for 5,000 USD to free each one of their captives. After long and painstaking struggles, we provided some money to the smugglers. And finally my brother and his friend were freed3. Beating and Detention by Police Unlawful crossings along international borders and transits through countries by people on the move makes them vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment by border guards and police forces. Border guards across the countries located along migratory routes often block entry points, and use force and violence to push back refugees and migrants. Under such circumstances violence becomes a modus operandi of enforcement agencies. One of the deportees from Parwan describes his experience with the Iranian police: We were 24 people crammed inside a lorry. The smuggler had covered the lorry with a tarpaulin. 1. Ibid 2. Interview, A, November 2018 3. Interview, Z. A, Kabul, June 2018