Meath doctor fears his family now have only a 'thin' chance of escaping Afghanistan
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A Meath doctor whose family is trapped in Afghanistan says he believes their chances of escaping Afghanistan now are “extremely slim".
Dr Abdullah Afghan, who has been practising as a doctor in Ireland since 2014, had his application to bring his family members to Ireland rejected by the Irish authorities on Monday.
Abdullah, who is an Irish citizen, had applied for asylum, through the family reunification program, for 11 people, four of whom are under 16 — his siblings, and his wife’s parents and siblings.
However, his application was rejected on the grounds that eligible family members are generally “dependent family including spouses, civil partners and children under the age of 18".
He had hoped that the dispatch of an Emergency Consular Assistance Team to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul might offer an opportunity to rescue his family and others who are trying to get to Ireland, but the mission ended yesterday after evacuating just 36 Irish citizens.
At least 75 people who are either citizens or ordinarily resident in Ireland, who wish to leave the country, are still stuck in Afghanistan.
“I am extremely worried about the safety of our family,” he said, “They could lose their lives at any time.”
Abdullah, whose wife is also a doctor practising in Ireland, said the speed at which the Taliban took over the country and the city of Kabul came as a massive shock to their families back home.
“It was like a trauma,” he said, “like a nightmare".
Prior to the Taliban's takeover, his siblings were studying and working in Kabul.
“My wife’s sisters were working as teachers in a school and studying part-time in a university. They were pursuing their careers and university degrees. Life in Kabul was getting back to normal... things were improving.”
However, in the last couple of months, things had begun to get “progressively worse".
“When the Americans decided they were going to pull out all of a sudden the Taliban got more emboldened, they got braver, they thought 'now is our time'."
It is a terrifying time for his family now, with most of them confined to their homes.
On one occasion, some of his family members attempted to get to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport but he said it was "impossible" to get near the airport, let alone inside it.
"There are hundreds and thousands of people waiting [at the airport]. Everybody wants to go, everybody wants to leave.”
People have been urged by the Department of Foreign Affairs and their counterparts in many nations to avoid the airport, but Abdullah says it is a sign of how desperate people are that they will go regardless.
“They have no hope for a life under the Taliban, the best thing you can do is flee.”