Call from Ş.A., who fled from Taliban: Do not remain silent 

2021-09-14 11:58:15


	 

	 

	Hikmet Tunç 

	 

	VAN - Ş.A., who had to immigrate after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, demanded that all they want is to live humanely and that the world public opinion should not remain silent about what happened.

	 

	After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, thousands of people began to migrate. The Taliban, which took control of the whole of Afghanistan, put into effect their repressive policies and put women at the target of their attacks. Women were excluded from the public sphere, co-education, women’s voices were banned, and wearing a chador was made compulsory.

	One of the women fleeing from the Taliban and living in Van for about a month, Ş.A. told our agency about her experiences. Ş.A., who came to Van via Iran, stated that the Taliban, after reaching the city of Kabula, identified and murdered everyone associated with the state through the mukhtars, and that her brother, who was a security staff in the Afghanistan Parliament, and her another brother, who was a pilot, also faced with being murdered.

	 

	Stating that they went to Pakistan after leaving Afghanistan, then to Tehran and then to Maku, Ş.A. said: ‘’We gave 5400 dollar to the human smugglers we met in Maku. After taking the money and bringing us to Merze and from there to Newone, the smugglers turned off their phones. We could not reach them. Another group of smugglers came and said, ‘We know the smugglers who tricked you. Give us how much money you have and we will send you to Istanbul’. We were threatened as ‘if you did not give money, we will send you to Iran’.’’

	 

	Many women are raped

	 

	Stating that many women who had to immigrate to Iran were subjected to all kinds of violence and rape on the roads, Ş.A. said: ‘’We gave them 2300 dollars. Two days later, they took us to a park late at night. It was said to wait there, the vehicle will come and pick you up. He also ran away.’’ Explaining the problems faced by women on their migration routes, Ş.A. stated: ‘’Women set out on a long and unknown journey that includes pregnant or menstruation periods. It was said that a woman was raped by smugglers on the route we migrated between Turkey and Iran the previous day. There is a lot of rape, violence and extortion. In addition to the great anxiety we experience, we are setting out on a journey where we do not have security of life. I only wear the clothes I wear.’’

	 

	They do not have identities

	 

	Stating that they do not have an identity (id card) and this is one of the main problems they experience, Ş.A. said: ‘’We live in a situation as fugitive due to this. Because we are always in danger of being deported. For a long time, we cannot even get out of the atmosphere where we are in the form of crowded groups without id. My child has a sore throat. He/she has been sick for days but I cannot take him/her to the doctor. Where we are, we have to take and use medicines from our neighbors. Maybe my child has corona. We cannot even determine this. When we are sent back due to lack of identity, we may be killed by the Taliban administration.’’

	 

	‘What ISIS did in Syria, the Taliban are doing in Afghanistan’

	 

	Noting that women showed great resistance despite the war conditions, Ş.A. stated that their resistance was not seen and supported by the world. Ş.A. said: ‘’Women are struggling, they do not accept cruelty and oppression. Before, there were no women’s rights. But women have never been so ignored. Women are dressed in burqas. It is forbidden to go to the market alone without a man with her. Widowed women or girls are taken as spouses of Taliban soldiers. They are forced into marriage. The Taliban administration is brutal. What ISIS did in Syria, the Taliban are doing in Afghanistan right now.’’

	 

	Mostly young people flee

	 

	Stating that mostly young people had to flee Afghanistan, Ş.A. expressed the following about the reason: ‘’Human rights are trampled. There is a lot of pressure on young people. Young people cannot even comb their hair as they wish. They are asked to grow a beard. They can only go to schools where Quran education is given. In economic terms, no young person can earn income. Because of this, more pressure is applied to young people and in the face of this pressure, young people are more likely to emigrate.’’

	 

	Call to the world public opinion

	 

	Finally Ş.A. said: ‘’All I want is to live humanely. I do not have any other requests. They say ‘you have rights’ to us, but it is a lie, there are no human rights. We didn't have rights before. But at least as women, we could go out on our own and go to the market. However, it removed completely after the Taliban. The US was on our land for 20 years. But it committed the greatest betrayal to the Afghans. The world has closed its eyes and closed its ears to what happening in Afghanistan. They are attacking with America (US). America makes it look like it is withdrawn. But it is carrying out these attacks together with America.’’ She wanted the world public opinion to raise their voice against what happened.