For Nasrin and Gul, two of the 62,000 U.S. visa applicants still in Afghanistan (their names have been changed to protect their identities), hope is fading.
Before the Taliban’s first takeover of Afghanistan in 1996, 10-year-old Nasrin’s new stepfather forced her to marry his son. Nasrin had her first son at 13. By 18, she was a mother of three.
During 15 years of marriage, Nasrin experienced violence and oppression at the hands of her husband and community. Multiple times, she tells me, she attempted suicide. Ten years ago, the mother of four received a separation agreement and custody of her children from the Herat prosecutor’s office. Until August, the hairdresser, activist, and fitness trainer was her family’s sole breadwinner, experiencing job success with help from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Though Nasrin’s USAID contact approved her for evacuation during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August, she never escaped Afghanistan. Stuck in Kabul, her family’s lives underwent dramatic change. Nasrin watched her 22-year-old daughter’s final year of university be put on hold by Taliban restrictions on women’s education. Then her husband, a Taliban affiliate, reappeared and threatened to force their daughter into marriage.
“I sacrificed my life for my children,” Nasrin tells me. “How can I allow my daughter to be forced into marriage?”
Nasrin’s husband has sent her a summons to appear before a Taliban court. She fears what he will do to her daughter, and to her, if she responds. While living in hiding, Nasrin has applied for a Priority 1 visa and is receiving assistance from a U.S. evacuation group. She believes evacuation presents her only hope for the future. “I never wanted to leave Afghanistan,” Nasrin says. “I love my country. Now the situation has forced me.”
Gul spent 10 years installing telecommunications systems for the U.S. Army, Afghan National Army, and Afghan National Police. In 2017, the Taliban destroyed his family home in Kabul as an act of vengeance. The following year, Gul applied for a Special Immigrant Visa.
One of many SIV applicants left behind after the Taliban takeover, Gul moved with his family to a safe house in a village outside of Kabul. Last month, Gul’s father returned to Kabul to see whether his home had been looted. During his visit, the religious leader of the local mosque told the Taliban about Gul’s work with the United States and former Afghan government. Gul’s father refused the Taliban’s demands that he bring Gul to them, telling them that Gul was no longer in Kabul. The religious leader said that Gul’s father was lying. When he continued to refuse their demands, the Taliban shot and killed Gul’s father.
Gul’s family continues to live in hiding. He has been unable to receive support from evacuation groups and says his family has no wood to burn for heat, no food to eat, and no jobs or income. Worse still, his mother, brother, and sister blame Gul for the death of his father. “I’m so sad due to [my] work and support [for the] U.S.” Gul tells me.
For Nasrin and Gul, and for the remaining 61,998 Afghans with stories of their own, the U.S. must move with greater haste to process visa applications and preserve promises to protect its allies.
