Family who fled Taliban to live in Cork on the verge of homelessness
Homeless Samira Mohammad Minihane Right) Naderi (left Zahed Denis Cork In Will And Their Within Naderi, Son Be Weeks Now To Fear They They Picture:
An Afghan family who fled to Ireland with the help of friends to escape the Taliban, now fear they will be homeless within weeks.
Mohammad and Samira Naderi and their two-year-old son Zahed arrived in Cork in February, after a big campaign was mounted by friends in Cork seeking permission for them to come to Ireland. They stayed with a host family until the beginning of June.
They moved into a property with another Afghan, Mansoor Jalalzai, who came here last October, also to escape the rule of the Taliban. All were allowed to come to Ireland through the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.
Now, they have been told they have to leave their current accommodation on July 31 because students will be returning to the property in August. A worried Mohammad said he has applied for viewings for hundreds of houses online but has not been able to secure even a viewing for a new home for his family yet.
Mansoor said he has also applied for several houses but has not even gotten a reply to his emails.
Mohammad said: “We are looking for a home in Cork because we are doing English courses here, I have applied for college here and we have friends here. We are happy in Ireland but we are worried because we have tried so hard to find a house but we cannot get one.”
Mansoor said: “When I left Afghanistan and came here, I had the same feeling as I have now in trying to find somewhere to live.”
Mansoor and the Naderi family are very grateful to the host families who took them into their homes when they arrived in Ireland. Samira said: “We will forever be grateful to our hosts who helped us to escape with our baby from certain death.”
The arrival of the Naderi family in Ireland was just weeks after Zahed’s heart stopped because of illness.
A family member had to take him to hospital because his parents Samira and Mohammad could not risk being found by the Taliban, who had threatened to kill them. Before the Taliban gained control in Afghanistan last August, Mohammad worked in human rights with the Afghan Women’s Network.
Mansoor had worked in the courts service before the Taliban takeover, making him a target because he had been a government employee.
Recently, the reported that letting agents in Munster are advertising available rental properties online for just one hour because of the overwhelming demand from desperate house hunters.
Some properties at rents of less than €1,000 are being snapped up before they are even advertised online.