The first Afghan refugee received in Chile | He fled his country after the Taliban seized power last month

After 14 years of separation, Afghan teacher Zainab Momeny met her sister Zahra in Chile on Friday, where she arrived as a refugee after fleeing her country when the Taliban seized power on August 15.

“She says she’s very happy, she says, ‘I still can’t believe I’m safe here’ (in Chile), and she feels she can finally sleep peacefully without worry.Said Zahra Habibi, who translated her sister’s statements at a press conference upon her arrival at Santiago airport.

Zainab “This is the first Afghan we have welcomed”, Underline Carolina Valdivia, Chilean Under-Secretary for External Relations, who also greeted him at the airport. The 33-year-old teacher who lived in Kabul took refuge in Chile after her sister Zahra, who has lived in the South American country since 2008, asked the Santiago government for help.

In a moving account, Zainab said that in order to leave Afghanistan, she first had to hide with another family at a friend’s house. Under the strict moral standards of the Taliban, she feared for her life as a woman, a university professor and a divorcee. Later he was able to travel to neighboring Pakistan. “The situation of women is very limited, it comes down to the four walls of the house, Women are not allowed to study in higher education, they are not allowed to work, they only allow until the sixth grade, ”Zainab explained, according to her sister’s translation.

safe-conducts

“It is a supercritical situation, the women have made their situation much more fragile, more than before, being repressed with lashes, beatings. There are women detained and they do not know where they are”, a he added. Zainab managed to board a plane bound for Pakistan, where he received assistance from Leopoldo Sahores, the Argentine ambassador to that country, who handed him the safe-conducts Chile gave him. granted to continue his journey. After that, he flew to Dubai, Paris and finally Santiago.

“I was hoping to find her alive, but something inside me always said ‘what if this doesn’t happen?’ Haven’t seen her in 14 years, so I see her more emaciated, a little older than before both, and she says: “I lived during the war, what more do you expect from me?‘”, Zahra Habibi recounted.

Now, Zainab must comply with a seven-day preventive quarantine for the covid-19 pandemic, which he will perform at a friend of his sister’s house. You will then explore the options for studying in Chile or in another country. Chile has already issued 20 safe-conducts to receive Afghan citizens. Some are in Pakistan and others in Iran. The Chilean government has explained that it cannot afford to get people out of Afghanistan, but can provide safe conduct and documents that allow refugees to travel.