Sina Mafakheri: All my personal and family problems made me escape and join the KDPI armed group.
According to IKHRW, from Dehgolan, these problems are constantly a detrimental factor in the management of Kurdish areas in Iran. Due to poverty and unemployment, armed groups such as the KDPI deceive Kurdish young people and recruit them into armed structures by promising a better life in Europe. Sina Mafakheri, born in 2001, legally infiltrated the border of Mariwan with the deception of one of the members of the KDPI named Adib and entered the Kurdistan region of Iraq. On October 16, 2023, he left this group and returned to Iran.
Question: Mr. Mafakheri, what was the motive behind your enlistment in the KDPI?
Sina Mafakheri: I did not have a suitable job and mental conditions. I worked months and years but I couldn’t meet my family’s needs. I was not a man of war and combat; I was merely seeking prosperity in Europe, but forced to become a democrat!
Question: How did you become a democrat?
Sina Mafakheri: I had made the decision to leave Iran; for this reason, I attempted to find a way on Instagram and I found Adib. Nearly two weeks later, I was able to legally leave the country with my passport and join KDPI.
Question: Tell us what it was like when you entered the KDPI.
Sina Mafakheri: All promises were false. We should not expect comfort from a barracks. I was stuck there for about 3 months, and the only task I performed was night guard duties. Sometimes they also held useless ideological and political classes, only talking about the freedom of Kurdistan and that Kurdistan should become a state and so on. Therefore, I decided to return to Iran by any means. Since I returned, I have made my effort to succeed. Although I do not have a very suitable income or job, at least I live in my own country and with my family.
