Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I am safe ...but feel terrified for those at home
ZAHRA’S STORY
ZAHRA Joya is an Afghan journalist who, fearing reprisals, managed to flee on a UK evacuation flight.
The 29-year-old owner of Rukhshana Media is now rebuilding her life “from zero” in London, along with her four younger siblings and baby niece who escaped with her.
But she still fears for her relatives who stayed in Kabul. She said: “The streets of Kabul are empty, my relative says.
“People are too afraid to leave their homes. I’m so worried about the future of my relatives.
“Our neighbours don’t have any food, not even bread, it is horrible.
“Everyone just stays home, my relatives who worked as teachers, shopkeepers and in offices lost their jobs, now none of them work, no money is coming in.
“When we knew the Taliban were coming I had to leave almost immediately because of my job. And we knew it wasn’t safe for my sisters to stay behind.
GOODBYE
“The British Embassy arranged for me and my younger siblings to come and my relatives dropped us to the airport. It was the hardest goodbye.
“The airport was very crowded. It was so horrible to watch people desperately trying to get a flight. We brought nothing, just my work laptop.
“After all the hard work over the last 20 years, life has become meaningless, people have lost their hope for the future. I am safe but I have a lot of problems in my mind, I can’t sleep, I can’t stop thinking about Afghanistan and my family.
“When I see brave women on the streets in Afghanistan, speaking up about the Taliban, it makes me very happy and proud. I wish I was there to support them, but I was at risk if I stayed there.
“It is very painful for me to watch, because the international community has forgotten Afghanistan, they have forgotten Afghan women.
“I am so fearful about what is going to happen to my country.”