For Afghan actor, now a refugee, survival is the toughest role

Talibshah Hosini played some tough roles as an actor in Afghanistan before he fled. None was as hard as his real-life fight for survival in a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos.

The 35-year-old from Faryab province in Afghanistan left a career in theater and film in his home country and now spends his days trying to keep his family safe in a makeshift shack made of pieces of wood and metal.

"In the 18 years since I became part of the cinema, I have played many tough roles, but this role is the most difficult one," he said.

Forced to flee after receiving threats for staging satires at his theater company that focused on the hardline Islamist Taliban movement, his journey with his wife and three daughters took them to Iran, then to Turkey and eventually Greece.

Hosini built a shelter in an olive grove next to the official Moria camp. The grove...