Bird stars in feel-good tale about Afghan evacuations
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The mynah bird squawks from a new cage in the French ambassador’s sunlit living room in Abu Dhabi, a far cry from its life as the pet of a young Afghan woman who has since found refuge in France.
Talkative, yellow-beaked “Juji” had a brief star turn on social media, its story of survival amid the frenzied evacuations from Taliban-run Afghanistan striking a nerve with a global audience.
While searing scenes from the American-led airlift from Kabul after 20 years of war gripped the world, France also was intensely involved in evacuating those who had risked their lives to cooperate with its government over the years.
French Ambassador Xavier Chatel was scrambling to support the efforts at Al-Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates. Thousands of Afghan evacuees flooded the base near the UAE capital, along with military bases across the region, to be screened by American, French and
other authorities over 12 sweltering days in August.
“There were many exhilarating stories because there were artists, there were musicians, there were people who were so relieved that they could be evacuated,” Chatel said Sunda. “But at the same time there was also an outpouring of distress.”
In the midst of the chaos at Al-Dhafra, Chatel received a security alert. Officers, on the lookout for al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist threats, had discovered illegal cargo on board.
A woman no older than 20 appeared, clutching a mystery cardboard box. Packed inside was her beloved pet with clipped wings — the famously chatty mynah.
But because of sanitary concerns, there was no way she could bring the small bird, the only possession she’d apparently taken with her from Kabul, to Paris.
She started to cry, Chatel said. She had lost her country. She had lost her house, she had lost her life.”
Chatel’s story of what happened next took hold on Twitter last week and turned Juji into a minor sensation, providing an uplifting counterpoint to the economic and humanitarian crises afflicting Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover.
Chatel decided to adopt the bird, promising he’d take good care of it.
The young woman found the ambassador on Twitter soon after landing in France. Top of her mind upon starting a new life as a refugee was her pet stranded on the Arabian Peninsula.
Chatel replied with videos of Juji snacking on fruit, flitting around its white cage and even learning French from his marble-floored living room. After chirping in Pashto for its first few days in Abu Dhabi, Juji had managed to utter something akin to “Bonjour.”
“(She) told me something which still remains with me,” Chatel said. “The fact that the bird was still alive and that he was well looked after gave her faith and hope to start again.”