'The world needs to stand with us': UK Afghans watch on as tragedy unfolds
Afghans who fled their homeland to settle in the UK express their fears for family and friends left behind
SNIP:
Dr Mohammad Haqmal, a public health director and academic who lived under the Taliban in Afghanistan and is now settled in the UK, says his fears for his sisters and brothers and their families trapped in Kabul are too great to put into words.
“I’m getting messages through the night from my family. Everyone is desperate to try to escape to India or Pakistan but they cannot do so. We never thought things would go back to this situation in Afghanistan. I have not been able to eat anything for the last few days. Things are getting worse and worse. We thought the Afghan government would resist but they have not.”
He is also distraught on a professional level. He worked in conditions of great adversity when he was a public health director in Afghanistan on an initiative known as the $1 project, which saved the lives of 2,500 women over an 18-month period in two districts with the poorest health indicators in the world. He believes the Taliban will undo much of that public health work.
“I used to lead the student association at the university in Kabul and I tried to speak to the Taliban. It is very difficult to explain to people here what it was really like living under their regime when you have not experienced that darkness. Life under the Taliban was like living in a graveyard. I remember a playground was built for children and the Taliban just tried to break all the equipment. They do not understand how to use resources. Everything has gone back to zero. Men are at risk but the risk is greatest for women. We do not want to let these stupid people take over but the world needs to stand with us.”
[link:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/15/the-world-needs-to-stand-with-us-uk-afghans-watch-on-as-tragedy-unfolds|
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