After the Afghan Taliban came to power in August 2021, millions of Afghan citizens have taken refuge in many countries around the world, including Pakistan, out of fear of the Taliban. Among these refugees, where people from other fields are included, there are also journalists who have chosen the path of migration specifically to escape the inhuman treatment of the Taliban.

Gulalai (pseudonym) is a female journalist from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. During democracy in Afghanistan, she worked as a host with Shamshad Television. Apart from this, she was also associated with other foreign media organizations, but as soon as the Taliban occupied Kabul, she left and took refuge in Pakistan as a refugee. About two years ago Gulalai entered Peshawar. It was a difficult time for them. She had come to live in a city she had never seen before.

‘It was a difficult time when I decided to leave the country. I wanted to go to a country where my life would be safe as soon as possible, so I decided to come to Pakistan. And I have been living the life of a refugee here for the last 2 years.

Gulalai, who works as a freelance journalist in Pakistan, said she is fluent in Pashto and Persian. They face problems in speaking, writing and understanding Urdu, which is why they get very few opportunities to work here.

She said that she did not want to leave Kabul, but the fear of the Taliban and the threats she received forced her to leave the country. Here too, they are facing various difficulties, including visa renewal and police ‘raids’ on their homes.

According to her, she has recently been forced to move from one city to another due to police abuse.

Gulalai wishes to move from Pakistan to a third country and live there with political asylum. She has submitted an application to the French Embassy but she does not know when she will be able to go to France. The above visa is also about to expire. And this one issue has got them into many confusions.

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Another Afghan journalist based in Peshawar, Sulaiman Zayeh, belongs to Khost province of Afghanistan. He was pursuing a master’s degree in BS Journalism from Kabul University when the Taliban took over Kabul, leaving his education incomplete.

He said that after the twelfth standard, he was associated with various media organizations in Afghanistan, including Zayam Television, Olus Ghag Radio and Bayan Radio. Even after the Taliban came to power, he tried to continue his journalistic duties, but many difficulties forced him to move from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

According to him, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Taliban for reporting and recently he was released after spending a month in prison.

Sulaiman Ziva has come to Pakistan a year after 15 August 2021. During this time, he has come and gone to Kabul several times. He wants to work here with some organizations but his visa has expired and visa is required to work in Pakistan.

Basir Amiri is also among the Afghan journalists who have been forced to leave the country in recent years.

Basir Amiri, who hails from Laghman province of Afghanistan, was associated with Aryan Television as a reporter during Ashraf Ghani’s rule, but is currently working as a freelance journalist with foreign media in Peshawar.

According to Basir, he came to Pakistan on a six-month visa which has expired and he is facing problems in renewing the visa. He alleged that a bribe of up to Rs 60,000 was demanded from him for the renewal of the visa and he could not afford it. And this is also the reason why they are not given the opportunity to work in Pakistani media.

“I visited many media organizations here but they ask me for a visa. My visa has expired six months ago and no company is willing to work here without a visa. The biggest problem we have here is visa renewal.

According to Basir, he has recently joined the German media organization (DW) Pashto Service as a freelance journalist and is living with this money. He says that there are hundreds of Afghan journalists facing visa renewal problems. The Afghan consulate also does not help them in this regard because according to them, the Afghan consulate is under the control of the Taliban and they do not want to issue us a new visa.

Efforts were made to know their position from the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar in this regard, but no response has been received from them yet.

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According to a report by Freedom Network, an organization working for media rights in Pakistan, 74 percent of Afghan journalists who came to Pakistan after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan want to continue their journalistic career with the support of Pakistani and international organizations.

Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak says that after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, many Afghan journalists turned to Freedom Network. According to him, the organization is trying to find out what problems Afghans are facing in Pakistan.

According to Iqbal Khattak, there is no information about the exact number of Afghan journalists who have come to Pakistan at this time, but it is certain that all these people need immediate humanitarian assistance. On the other hand, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), there are around 150 Afghan journalists in Pakistan who are awaiting a decision to relocate to other countries under a United Nations program. These journalists, who worked in various newspapers, radio and TV, managed to cross the border after the Taliban government came to power.

According to him, the biggest problem for Afghan journalists and other residents coming to Pakistan is employment. Because the money they brought with them is being spent fast.

On the other hand, Iqbal Khattak says that Afghans cannot open a bank account in Pakistan, while after the visa expires, they cannot even order money online from other countries.

It should be noted that thousands of Afghan refugees moved to Pakistan after August 15, 2021. According to Qaisar Afridi, the spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pakistan, there are currently more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan, most of whom are living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while more than eight million such refugees are in Pakistan. There are those who do not have POR (Proof of Registration) card here but they have the required documents to stay here. In addition, a large number of unregistered Afghans also live there.

Illegally residing Afghan refugees are either unemployed or engaged in daily wage labor in Pakistan. According to a United Nations report, one third of the population of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan is literate. Only 22.5 percent of the 14 lakh are economically active. Most of the Afghan refugees have migrated legally/illegally because they want to go to Europe and other developed countries, but they are stuck here due to lack of legal documents.

Salman Yousafzai

Source: TNN