Kabir calls for safety for Afghan refugees and peace for his country

Kabir is a businessman, a refugee from Afghanistan, a husband, a father and a volunteer with the Asylum Seekers Centre.

“We’ve been suffering for a very long time in Afghanistan and the world should help us, not make it harder for us.

When the coalition forces left the airport in Kabul, they destroyed everything as they left the country. Is this a support to Afghanistan? Leaving at night, destroying all the infrastructure? I don’t know why they did that.

The world needs to bring pressure on the Taliban and the neighbouring countries to bring them onto the same page. Australia is a powerful country and should be working to make Afghanistan safe and fair.

Life is difficult now. There will be restrictions on women once the government changes the policies on how they treat women. I am a feminist and I was working in a women-led organisation in Afghanistan.

Women in the city have been doing very well in Afghanistan and many of those who have been defending women’s rights are at risk. However the rest of the population, women in the villages and the regional areas are still deprived of their basic rights. The coalition forces were there for twenty years. There were bombardments on the regional areas and no one raised their voices. In remote areas they live with love, peace and solidarity but they don’t have the basic facilities of life.

My daughters want to contribute to Afghan society (Kabir has six children). We need to help and they will contribute in any way that they can. I am in touch with my people and my daughters have been doing research into refugee options for people and helping people fill out forms all night. There is a lot of pressure on them. They see discrimination but they don’t know much about their country and their local language is not good any more.

I can tell you all my friends that were working with NGOs, they are frightened, they don’t know what will happen to them and you see this desperation for them to get to safety. There are Afghan citizens, people who have been fighting the Taliban, who have the right to leave.

If I tell you the impact on my family… if I tell you I cannot sleep, I am honest in that. I check my mobile phone all night and my wife is also checking hers. I don’t have any sleep or ability to concentrate.

I totally support an increase to the Government’s number of 3000 humanitarian visas. But I also ask, how many people can we get out? What will happen to the rest of the people there? I would encourage arrangements to help people left in Afghanistan too. Now people are scared. The coalition countries must use their influence to protect people who stay too.

If I have one bread and feed only one person, then so many go hungry. I should share it and feed more people.”