Gulwali Passarlay was 12 years old when his mother paid a human smuggler to transport him out of Afghanistan and take him to the safety of Europe.

Ten years later, as thousands of migrants continue to make the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean, Passarlay is hoping a new book about his experiences will inspire "compassion and love" towards those fleeing violence.

Passarlay, a student at the University of Manchester and the author of "The Lightless Sky," says his story begins like many other refugees': with deadly conflict.

"My family was directly in war in the conflict in Afghanistan," he told CTV's Canada AM on Monday. "And it was becoming unbearable for me and my brother to attend school or live a normal life."

Passarlay says his uncle was a Taliban commander, and his father and grandfather were suspected of hiding weapons for the group, and were killed in a shootout with U.S. troops.

As the violence intensified, he and his brother found themselves caught between the two sides of the bloody conflict.

"The Taliban wanted to recruit us to take revenge for our family members who were killed," Passarlay said. "And then the U.S.-backed Afghan government wanted us to work for them …

"If we had done either of those things, we would certainly have been killed."

Fearing for her sons' lives, Passarlay's mother paid a human smuggler thousands of dollars to transport the boys as far as Italy.

Passarlay says he was "terrified" to leave his country and his family, but the journey took an even more harrowing turn when he lost his brother at the Peshawar airport.

Alone and reliant on human smugglers, Passarlay forged on, travelling from country to country in search of safety and his brother.

"The sad reality is when I took this journey, I went through so much hardship," he said. "I actually experienced hell. I was at the mercy of human smugglers, traffickers and agents. Some of them were nice but the majority of them were pretty heartless."

Passarlay was arrested and imprisoned in multiple countries. At one point, he made it to Bulgaria, but was eventually sent back to Turkey, and then to Iran, where he was forced to "restart the journey."

"Not only was I not treated as a child, but I wasn't even treated as a human being," he said.

Passarlay says the most difficult part of the whole ordeal was crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Like thousands of other desperate migrants and refugees, Passarlay made the dangerous crossing in a small, overcrowded boat.

He arrived in Europe alive, but he says the memory continues to haunt him.

"Last year about 4,000 people drowned in the sea," he said. "It keeps me awake. It bothers me. It saddens me."

Passarlay eventually learned his brother was in Britain, and he made his way to the U.K., where they were reunited.

Even after finally reaching his destination, however, Passarlay says he struggled to cope with his experiences and suicidal thoughts.

"Things became so bizarre. Things became so complicated. I just felt I was unwanted," he said.

Today, Passarlay says he's trying to make the most of his life and his opportunities to make a difference in the world.

"Thankfully, here I am. I'm alive," he said. "That's why I wrote the book, to give a message of compassion and love that we need to do more."

Passarly praised Canada's efforts to welcome refugees, and urged the western world to have compassion for refugees making the same desperate journey he did.

"More and more people are fleeing violence, conflicts and wars," he said. "We need to continue that path of welcoming refugees."