Afghanistan: How one TV presenter became a refugee

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last August, lifestyle for many women in the united states changed overnight. For one TV presenter, this meant the end of her career, along with her hopes and dreams. Now, nearly a year on, she is trying to a create a new life as a refugee in the UK.

On 14 August 2021, the night prior to the Taliban took control over Kabul, Shabhnam Dawran was preparing to existing the prime time news show on Tolo News and Stereo Television Afghanistan.

In recent days, the particular Taliban had swept across Afghanistan together now reached the outskirts of the funds.

The 24-year-old Shabhnam was a rising celebrity. She went on surroundings to break the news to viewers who were glued to their TV screens following every progress the story.

“I had been so emotional that I couldn’t even see the lead story. Individuals watching me in your own home could tell what I was going through, ” she says.

When she woke the following morning, Kabul experienced fallen to the militant group.

A Taliban member, with the group’s black and white flag at the rear of him, was at this point sitting in the same seat in the facilities where Shabhnam experienced sat the night just before.

It marked the finish of an era.

At their own first official information conference, a Taliban spokesman told a room filled with journalists that ladies could work “shoulder to shoulder along with men”.

The next day, a nervous but thrilled Shabhnam put on the girl work clothes and made her method to the office.

But the moment she arrived, the lady was confronted by Taliban soldiers, who she says were guarding the building and only permitting male workers to enter.

Shabhnam says a soldier informed her that “in the particular Islamic Emirate associated with Afghanistan, we haven’t decided about women yet”. Another enthusiast, she says, informed her: “You’ve worked sufficient, now it’s the time. ”

When she told them she had every single right to work, Shabhnam says one of the troops pointed his rifle at her, placed his finger for the trigger and said: “One bullet is going to be enough for you — will you leave or even should I shoot a person here? ”

She then left, but posted a video explaining the encounter upon social media. It went viral, putting her and her family’s life in danger.

The girl packed a small handbag and fled the country a few days later, having her two more youthful siblings – Meena and Hemat – with her.

Shabhnam and her siblings later arrived in the united kingdom, along with thousands of various other Afghan refugees. These people faced a long wait around to be settled.

As a refugee with no English and limited job prospects, Shabhnam a new hard time adjusting to her new surroundings.

“I feel like I actually lost the 6 years I proved helpful in Afghanistan. I have to learn British and go to university. On the first days we couldn’t even go shopping. If we required some essentials, we all couldn’t express what we should wanted. It was extremely difficult and painful. ”

Almost per year on, the majority of latest Afghan refugees in the UK remain in hotels across the country. Shabhnam and the girl siblings, however , happen to be lucky – they were provided with an authorities house earlier this year.

“Our life starts today. We’re like a newborn that has to start through the very beginning, ” the girl says with a smile as she teaches her sister Meena to put the pot on to make “chai sabz”, the traditional Afghan green tea that contains cardamom.

They are slowly getting used to life in London and also have been enjoying their first English summer time, though they still miss home.

“I’m a local now, ” Shabhnam says, giggling. She knows where to find the bakery with the warm bread that looks and smells like the ones that they had back home, and where to get the best dried fruit and green tea.

She and her sister are now studying British at a college plus her brother attends secondary school.

Shabhnam feels her family continues to be well supported by the UK government, yet worries about additional Afghan refugees, several of whom are her friends. She says their plight continues to be overshadowed by the war in Ukraine.

“Processing the cases of Afghans, and especially those people stuck in hotels, has been massively delayed because of Ukrainian refugees. They [the British government] have place a limit upon Afghans coming to the united kingdom but not on Ukrainians. They shouldn’t have got behaved like that along with Afghans. ”

The BBC put her concerns to the UK Home Office. It stated: “It is incorrect to set these two vulnerable groups against one another. Our Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will give you up to 20, 1000 women, children along with other at risk groups having a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.

“The housing of Afghan individuals plus families can be a complex process. We are working with over 300 private sector organisations across the UK to fulfill the demand and have moved – or are in the process of moving – over six, 000 people straight into homes since June 2021. ”

A lot has changed in Afghanistan since Shabhnam remaining home. Girls are banned from likely to secondary school in many parts of the country, parks have been segregated and women have been ordered to hide their faces.

This rule offers particularly affected female TV presenters who have been forced to wear face coverings on surroundings.

Shabhnam sympathises with her co-workers who have no choice but to accept the harsh edicts if they wish to continue working.

“[The Taliban] want to force females to say ‘we quit, we don’t wish to come to work anymore and we submit to staying at home’, ” she says. “Until they change their way of thinking, they’ll not bring a positive change in society. ”

But she has not quit hope of one time returning to Afghanistan.

“Like a glass that falls on the floor and breaks into parts, my hopes, programs and dreams were shattered, ” the girl says.

“I hope for a day when Afghanistan is a place where people are not just enduring – but thriving. I will not be uncertain of returning after that. ”