An Afghan refugee commuted hours for his Uber job. Then he was shot in his car

Mohammad Dawood Mommand was at home in Sacramento, California, when he received a call that left him in shock and unable to stand. Ahmad Fawad Yusufi, a cousin who he considered like a brother, had been shot and killed in San Francisco, where he worked as an Uber driver.

Yusufi, 31, was an Afghan immigrant and father of three who came to the US on a special visa after serving as a translator for the US military. Family and gig worker organizers say Yusufi was getting some rest in his car between driving shifts when someone attempted to steal his wallet and shot him to death.

Police arrested a 38-year-old man in Oakland on 18 December for the murder of Yusufi last month.

In recent years, there have been reports of a growing group of commuters who are forced to travel sometimes more than eight hours away to make a decent living by picking up fares in San Francisco during the day and spending nights in their vehicles.

The ride-sharing company said Yusufi was offline at the time of the murder, and that he took his last trip with Uber on 27 November and logged off the app shortly before 10pm. According to police, the shooting occurred about 5am on 28 November.

For years Uber and Lyft drivers have commuted from all around the Bay to work in the city, she added, sleeping in car parking lots wherever they can.

Earlier in 2021, Uber and Lyft drivers joined daylong strikes protesting against poor working conditions and demanded the right to protest, with rallies taking place across several US cities.

The strikes came as the pandemic underscored the vulnerability of gig work and as work dried up, leaving drivers fearing for their livelihoods.

Uber has fought efforts in California to give workers more benefits and protections, most notably in November 2020, when Californians voted to pass Proposition 22, a ballot measure that exempted ride-sharing companies from treating drivers as employees. Under Prop 22, which was heavily funded by Uber and Lyft, app-based drivers are considered to be independent contractors, so companies are only required to grant accident insurance or death insurance to dependents when the driver dies while using the app.

In the first few years in the US, Mommand also made the long commute to San Francisco with Yusufi to work as an Uber driver, before giving up the gig because of the pandemic.