NEW DELHI, Aug 27: Several Afghan youths stood outside the UNHCR office here on Friday with black tape over their mouths and placards in their hands to demand documented refugee status and “support letters” from the UN agency for those seeking to move to other countries for better opportunities.
The protest, led by the Afghan Solidarity Committee (ASC), started on August 23. The ASC has said the protest will continue until its demands are met.
Many young Afghan refugees wore black tapes over their mouths to symbolise their helplessness and the lack of opportunities without official refugee status.
Some protesters raised slogans like ‘We want future’, ‘We want justice’, ‘No more silence’ and clapped and cheered each other, while others held placards and banners reading ‘UN Geneva help Afghan Refugees’ and ‘Issue resident visas to all Afghan refugees’.
Mariam Arzo (19), who fled from Kabul in 2017 with her mother and three siblings, said she had been camping outside the UNHCR office for the last two days.
“We Afghan people feel helpless as there are not many opportunities for us without a proper refugee card. We understand the problems of our homeland and they terrify us, but Afghan refugees in India also need help,” Arzo told PTI.
She also expressed sadness over the Kabul airport explosions that left at least 72 people dead and 143 injured.
“People had flocked to the Kabul airport thinking it is a safe place, but they (terrorists) turned it into a graveyard,” she said.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport on Thursday. Thirteen US troops were among those killed.
Arzo said, “The situation in my country is turning from bad to worse. With the Taliban back in control, I cannot even think of returning to Afghanistan.”
The protesters, including children, have been demonstrating outside the UNHCR office in Vasant Vihar amid the deepening crisis in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
The protesters have come from Lajpat Nagar, Bhogal, Noida, Greater Noida and Faridabad, among other places.
According to ASC head Ahmad Zia Ghani, there are about 21,000 Afghan refugees in India. Of these, only 7,000 have valid documents or refugee cards. (PTI)
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