They started thinking about planning their future in the UK

Afghan refugees: After the flight from the Taliban, we have a home in London

• Britain provided aid to refugees fleeing the Taliban.

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• The Taliban restricted women after their return to power.

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• Joya and her family are happy to have a home in London.

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Afghan journalist, Zahra Joya, expressed her happiness after she managed to escape from Afghanistan to London, as she recounted how she managed to evade the Taliban and began thinking about planning her future in the United Kingdom.

“About a year ago, I was looking in horror from my window when (Taliban) militants appeared on the street corner of my beloved Kabul, but now, a year later, I am writing this article from my desk in the family’s new home in London,” Joya said.

We have our walls to paint, our kitchen where we cook, and my niece has a bed to sleep on.

I can see from my window the new neighborhood we live in, and I can now dream of new horizons for myself and my family.”

The Afghan refugee added: “For the past year, after the chaos, horror and trauma we experienced during our eviction from our homeland, we were living in a state of loss in a hotel in central London, with 400 other Afghans, who found themselves refugees overnight.” We were fortunate, because our hotel was clean, the staff are nice, and I cannot thank the UK government for what they have given us.”

“However, as the months passed, we all felt pressured, like cartoons, but stopped, waiting for someone to tell us what was going to happen next.

In Afghanistan we were journalists, doctors, politicians, translators, and now we are all homeless refugees, we have nothing to do but wait.

Although we are grateful to the British government, we have no business or independence, not even money.”

"There are 400 people of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, all living together, dealing with the trauma they have gone through, and seeing the poverty, hunger and violence that was taking place at home as a disaster," the journalist emphasized.

As the months went by, we witnessed local violence, as families were separated, and ethnic tensions developed.

As families struggle to adjust to the new surroundings, we watch as women are prevented from leaving the hotel with their male relatives, and as a group of Afghan Hazara women we have had our share of problems while there.

And I realize that our hotel was no different from so many places where thousands of Afghans were living month after month, trying to come to terms with what had happened to their lives, witnessing how their home, their families, and the friends they left there lived in a state of darkness, hunger, and violence.”

The last weeks in Afghanistan were filled with unspeakable horror, pain and loss, according to the Afghan refugee. My little room in the hotel.

“I have always felt strong in my role as a journalist, and I had to criticize injustice and human rights abuse,” Joya said.

My coverage of the (Taliban) violence was the reason why we fled, but even at the airport when we were trying to leave the country I did not stop covering, and I asked one of the women why she ran away with her little girl, and asked her to interview her, despite the noise of the military planes that were Manifestation of the people.

 "Although we are grateful to the British government, we have no business, no autonomy, no money."

feeling proud

Zahra Joya said that her sister got angry with her, and told her, “I have done this (press) work for several years, and we are now facing the results of your work, and now we have to flee from the state, as well as our parents.” But Joya felt proud, remembering the days when she was covering the protests. and civil demonstrations in Kabul.

“Now, finally, we have a house, we can start building our lives here, we are able to go to the market, shop, cook our food, plan our future,” she said.

I will continue to work from exile, until I can return safely to Afghanistan.”

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Another Afghan refugee living in a central London hotel.

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