Clare Daly raises Afghans in EU parliament Desperate Afghans contact her Still no response from MEP
MEP falls silent as distraught family plead with her for a reply to emails
AN AFGHAN family who played a key role helping to educate women but now fear for their lives have told of their disappointment that Irish MEP Clare Daly has not responded to their desperate appeal for help to escape the country.
The family, who were interviewed by the Irish Mail on Sunday in January, are attempting to seek asylum in Ireland and wrote to Ms Daly after they heard her impassioned speech in the European Parliament.
Ms Daly accused European governments of helping Ukrainian refugees but at the same time ignoring the plight of millions of Afghans living under the new Taliban regime.
Addressing the parliament in Brussels on March 7, Ms Daly angrily remonstrated about the EU’s response to the war in Ukraine, saying: ‘Meanwhile in Afghanistan... tens of thousands are seeking refuge. Five million children are facing famine, there is a 500% increase in child marriages. Children are being sold to feed families and not a mention of it.
‘My God, they must be wondering what makes their humanitarian crisis so unimportant.’
The speech was retweeted on Twitter more than 16,000 times and it was translated into different
‘They have sent me a death threat letter’
Arabic languages.
After seeing the video on social media, the mother of the family of eight who are living in fear for their lives in Afghanistan, wrote a lengthy email to Ms Daly on March 16 asking for her help and advice in getting a visa waiver that would allow them to come to Ireland.
Despite sending several reminder emails since, they have still received no acknowledgement of their correspondence.
The MoS has also repeatedly tried to contact Ms Daly at her Strasbourg and Brussels offices since last Friday week by phone and email, but without response.
‘I don’t know why she won’t reply to us,’ said the 21-year-old daughter of the family desperately trying to flee Kabul. ‘Our situation is very desperate here.’
The family’s fears were exacerbated this week after the Taliban backtracked on a promise to allow girls to return to school.
Girls have been out of school since the fundamentalist group took over the country in August.
Afghanistan is now the only country in the world to deny girls an education.
Several members of the family who wrote to Ms Daly previously worked educating females in the country, a fact that they say makes them targets of the Taliban.
The family – who were photographed with former US First Lady Laura Bush when she was on a visit to Afghanistan because of their work in female education – are confined to their house for their safety.
They include a mother who ran a school promoting ‘the empowerment of Afghan woman’ her four daughters and two sons. An uncle is also living with them.
In their email to Ms Daly – seen by the MoS – the mother of the family wrote: ‘My family and I are being threatened by the Taliban and they are after us. We have asked for asylum from many countries yet none has answered us. We have relocated to our relative’s house since the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan.
‘I was working in a remote area as a school principal where the women didn’t have the right to education. They had sent me a death threat letter which I will attach.
‘One of my daughters was working in an international organisation (United States Agency for International Development Projects) in Kabul, Afghanistan and she was threatened many times by the Taliban.
‘My other daughter was a defence lawyer. She has defended many cases and now that the criminals are free, she can’t leave the house.
‘As the whole world is aware how swiftly things escalated in Afghanistan and all of the provinces have been taken over by the Taliban, including the capital.
‘Myself and my family need to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible as the Taliban are looking for women who used to work in the government specially and other NGOs.’
The family also contacted the Equality and Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman last week about their application to be included on the visa waiver programme.
They received a reply within 24 hours which redirected the query to Justice Minister Helen McEntee.