Afghans in Brazil Seek to Save Friends and Family

Immigrants receive personal reports of violence and fear Taliban regime

Flávia Mantovani Luiz Henrique Gomes
Viçosa (MG)

Via video call, Fazal Ahmed talks to a friend in Afghanistan, who shows bullet holes in the wall and the packed-up family belongings ready for a possible escape.

Also on his cell phone, Ahmed's brother, Rabbi, shows a photo of his wife, her hair covered by a printed scarf, and says he fears for her and for her son, who are still in Kabul.

Nearby, a friend of the family, Ahmed Jaber, says that he was taken to see executions in the public square with the school class as a child.

SÃO PAULO, SP, BRASIL, 18-08-2021:Fazel Ahmad (28) in Brazil, since 2012. (Foto: Bruno Santos/ Folhapress) - Folhapress

In Canindé, a neighborhood in São Paulo, Afghan refugees fear for relatives and friends who remain in the country, now under the rule of the fundamentalist Taliban group.

Ahmed's cell phone keeps beeping, with videos of violence committed by the Taliban, sent by friends. "They're cutting people's hands off over very small things."

Brazil does not currently have an embassy in Afghanistan. The diplomatic mission responsible is in Islamabad (Pakistan).

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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