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“Our life in Afghanistan was quite calm, good, we had a home, they respected us. We felt happy in our country, we had support, a family, they guarded us. When the Taliban took power, everything changed: there was no peace, there was chaos in the country, in life, in general. Justice, the courts, humanity are gone, everything that has been built for 20 years has collapsed, ”says Abed Azimi, an Afghan translator.
Fear and a cry for help
Abedas arrived in Lithuania with three children and his wife in August and stayed in Raseiniai. For four years, the man helped the Lithuanian-led Ghowr Provincial Reconstruction Team. After learning of the unrest, he and his family approached Lithuanian representatives and applied for asylum. His cry for help was heard.
“We packed everything we needed, we brought our three children, we did not hesitate to leave our house and, with the other two families, we took a four-hour trip to the capital, Kabul,” says an Afghan translator.
The stories of some translators did not end in the same way as Abedo and his family. The man said that the Taliban authorities had hunted down, kidnapped and killed some of the interpreters. Despite the fear, he and his family managed to escape the country.
“Leaving the country had its challenges. Shortly after the Taliban seized power, they arrived in our home province of Ghowr and began looking for interpreters to help European soldiers. Some of them were quickly found, kidnapped and even crossed their heads.
I managed to escape from them with a group of other translators and their families, we reached Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. We really know that we cannot trust the Taliban because a similar situation has happened before.
We asked the Lithuanian government to give us asylum and they helped us. We really appreciate and are very grateful to the Lithuanian government, the soldiers and the Minister of National Defense for their helping hand, ”says Abedas.
Congestion at the airport and trip down the river.
His family history probably differs somewhat from that of other Afghan translators whom Lithuanian soldiers helped escape. The man recounted the riots at the capital’s airport.
“We fled from Ghowr province and when we got to the capital, we didn’t even know then that the Taliban had taken over Kabul. We were confident that we would be safe in Kabul, but when we learned that the Taliban were already here, we were very disappointed and We try to find a way to evacuate our families from the country safely.
We were in constant contact with representatives of Lithuania, after a while Lithuanian soldiers were sent, they started looking for us, they gave us visas. We were able to calm down a bit because we were worried about our future.
They told us to wait in Abbey at the door, because in the morning the captured soldiers will take us away. When we started the trip to the airport, the Taliban soldiers stopped us. They asked a lot of questions, but they still allowed us to move on. There was a large crowd at the door, the ground was drowning in water, I don’t know, maybe because of a nearby river.
We contacted Lithuanian soldiers and they agreed to help us and take us to the main gate, where the evacuation of people was already taking place, ”says the man.
The family had to reach out to the Lithuanian soldiers who arrived at the airport maturing on the other side of the river: “After receiving the signal, we began to ford the river. We had all of our children in our hands and those few things that we guessed and were able to take with us. The children were bullied, crying. A Lithuanian soldier broke into the water from the other shore and came to help break through. “
The family had to flee the country undocumented; When the Taliban came to power, workers in state institutions began to flee en masse.
“Generalthe society here is friendly and welcomes us “
A month after the terrible events, the Afghan family is now quietly settled in Raseiniai. Abed’s relatives still live in Afghanistan and are constantly learning about the situation in their home country.
“We talk to our loved ones who have stayed in Afghanistan every day. The Taliban know about us and our families, they know that we are leaving the country. We have asked Lithuania for help to support our families in Afghanistan, because they are also in danger. “We are afraid of them. We asked Lithuanians to help us bring our relatives here to Lithuania. Unfortunately, Kolkas does not know how to do it,” he says worried.
Abed, asked about the Lithuanians and the Raseiniai community and integration here, smiles.
“The people in Lithuania are friendly, they treat us wonderfully, the people of Raseiniai really accepted us. We were also visited by the Minister of National Defense, the Mayor of Raseiniai and many other state officials.
We really feel accepted here. Our children can play quietly here, we do not have to worry or be afraid of them. We hope that our children can go to school quickly and find a job in the near future, “he plans.
It is true that man also alludes to cultural differences. Lithuania, far from South Asia, differs in customs and religious peculiarities. However, according to the translator, even those differences allow him to live a life that would allow him to preserve his native traditions.
“We have no problem practicing religious rites here, we pray in the same way that we pray in our land. The mayor of the city even gave us the opportunity to go to the mosque to pray. We can also pray at home, and the people of Raseiniai have no problems with us, the community here is friendly and from what I see they accept us.
There is a big difference between Lithuanian food and what we normally eat. Many families here simply cook Afghan food because they still need to get used to the new flavors.
Lithuanian food is really delicious, but we also want to preserve our culture, so we often produce our own food, ”he says.
Still see hope
After a month of shocking events, shootings, human rights abuses in Afghanistan, we continue to hear bad news. Women are particularly affected: they are segregated at school and their rights to work in public institutions are restricted. The man says, however, that all is not lost.
“We Afghans still have hope for our future and that of our country. We really want and ask the Taliban regime to take into account the wishes of all people, not to discriminate, not to exclude women and include them in state governance, to allow them have a decent opportunity to study, because without women and without other parties, it will be difficult for them to form their own government.
We sincerely hope that both women and girls will have the opportunity to contribute to the formation of a government and the right to a good education; they must have a voice and rights. “
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