A year after Kabul escape, family remains apart
STORY: Massouda Kohistani managed to get out of Kabul a year ago, desperately fleeing the Taliban.
A political analyst and women’s rights activist under the previous regime, she's now safe in the Spanish city of Salamanca.
But as this emotional call shows, her mother and more than a dozen other family members were forbidden to board the same military plane and were left behind on the tarmac. Reuters couldn't independently verify their story.
Attempts to bring them out later failed due to their lack of travel documents and funds.
For Kohistani, the guilt is crushing.
“I wish I could be by your side, but I can’t, until God opens a door for us.”
“What should I do? Where can I go?" her mother says, in Kabul.
Kohistani's sister says it was hard to let her go and live in a foreign country alone and they worry about her constantly.
“We have no regrets, because her life was in danger. Even Massouda herself said then that she would prefer suicide to being arrested by the Taliban.”
She and their mother say the Taliban conducts surprise searches of their home to check if Massouda has returned from Spain.
Besmullah Habib, deputy spokesperson for the Afghan Interior Ministry, denied the searches.
Thousands of Afghans fled the country in the chaotic days that followed the hardline Islamist Taliban's military conquest last August 15, though there are no precise numbers.
Habib said the Taliban had invited them all to return, and a special commission was set up to help that happen.
Kohistani has been jobless since she arrived in Spain, mainly because of the language barrier. A local NGO gives her money to pay rent and buy food.
She used to support the family, now she can't pay for her mother's medicine.
“I was the only one that played the role of a father and a mother to all my family members, because I worked hard, and I worked with a lot of international organisations, and I had good income than the rest of my family members. And currently, the most thing that makes me painful is the lack of education for my family members, even they do not have money to their bus fare.”
Kohistani is taking Spanish lessons and has applied for master’s degree in politics and human rights, which she hopes will allow her to get a related job and eventually bring the family over.
Despite her family's appeals, she never stops raising awareness about Afghanistan on social media and taking part in discussions and conferences.
“The message to the world is that please stand with Afghanistan women. Please do not recognise the terrorists in Afghanistan.”
Massouda says her refugee status has been confirmed, valid for five years.
Spain's Interior Ministry declined to comment on individual cases.
According to ministry data, almost 2,000 Afghans have sought asylum in the last year and just over 1,500 have been granted it so far.
相關影片推薦
- 2:00南海升溫台海降溫?美防長挺菲再提共同防禦!中國防部:不會任菲律賓胡來 ft.蔡正元【風向龍鳳配】風向龍鳳配133,995 次觀看・1 週前
- 2:14小米電動車「SU7」正式推出 95.5萬元起 叫陣特斯拉 中國上市27分鐘訂單破5萬輛Yahoo奇摩(國際通)28,799 次觀看・7 小時前
- 1:3845歲女醫院櫃檯前突昏倒 甲狀腺亢進引發心肌梗塞民視影音134,000 次觀看・1 天前
- 3:23唐綺陽星座運勢:生活即將遇到很多切分點,敞開心胸準備迎接各式各樣的怪咖!唐綺陽談星室2,009 次觀看・7 小時前
- 7:15譚敦慈:電鍋、悶燒鍋絕不這樣用!5件事拒絕「毒從口入」︱譚敦慈 X 張昭妤【早安健康】早安健康影音150,391 次觀看・7 小時前
- 2:17世界唯一「金色蜘蛛絲斗篷」卡達亮相 120萬隻蜘蛛吐「天然金絲」6000小時打造Yahoo奇摩(國際通)7,457 次觀看・6 小時前
- 1:37闖數位部開槍! 清境民宿老闆稱沒生意月燒30萬華視影音66,854 次觀看・5 小時前
- 2:05清境民宿老闆開槍洩憤 移送北檢全程沉默|#鏡新聞鏡新聞36,094 次觀看・8 小時前
- 1:31穿睡衣褲上班! 中國員工「噁心穿搭」風潮|#鏡新聞鏡新聞7,081 次觀看・1 天前
- 0:45台北橋塞爆! 卡40分鐘 騎士控紅綠燈調配出包東森新聞影音117,350 次觀看・1 天前
熱門必看
- 1:17Angelababy瘋馬秀後復出 仍被踢出11年節目? 《奔跑吧》全新陣容「她」接替baby2個代言!娛樂星聞23,526 次觀看・3 天前
- 17:28朝聖2024年最新東京teamLab 現點飲料會開花?視覺震撼連發!Yahoo創作摩人8,727 次觀看・1 天前
- 11:39如何把芋頭做得好吃?教你這招,加1塊豆腐,一上桌就掃光,比肉還香!芭樂媽的家 Qistin Wong TV64,365 次觀看・4 天前
- 13:56高雄三民區宵夜美食|從台南紅到高雄的超人氣厚奶酥!自由搭配湯頭、麵條、配料的港味車仔麵、一鍋兩吃的麻辣干鍋!我是馬鈴薯小姐雁靈3,751 次觀看・2 天前
- 2:00簡單又美味,奶奶的紅燒桂竹筍麥可星級料理廚房32,879 次觀看・2 天前