Photo: Karima Jamili (Credit: Ahmed J Versi/The Muslim News)
Ahmed J Versi
An inspiring group of Afghan women were invited to the Houses of Parliament to meet with ministers to mark International Women’s Day on March 7. Each told their own unique stories of success and integration since coming to the UK following the Taliban takeover.
Victoria Atkins, Minister for Afghan Resettlement at the time, who hosted a reception, told The Muslim News that she had invited the women “to celebrate their successes and achievements, here in the mother of all parliaments, and also to help them understand how welcome they are and to involve them in our democracy given that this is now their new home.”
“We’re setting them up with homes, schools, and jobs and helping to integrate them into our society,” Atkins said.
Many of the women hosted in Parliament have made extraordinary contributions in Afghanistan to help with women’s rights, democracy and education, she said.
The minister acknowledged that there are different challenges facing the government in relocating refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine.
“One thing that unites us is the Government’s absolute determination to play our part and to look after people, where we can. But the situations in Afghanistan and Ukraine are different. We should not pretend that they are the same. That’s why we’re tailoring our response to Ukraine to reflect those experiences. Our theme is very much welcoming people and treating them fairly. That is running through both sets of circumstances”.
One of the inspirational women in attendance was Karima Jamili, 27, from Ghazni, a former civil servant at the Afghan Ministry of Interior. She and her two younger sisters escaped from Afghanistan during the military evacuation after the Taliban takeover of the country.
“We were evacuated from Kabul Airport by the military. It was a very difficult situation for us. I hope we can start a good life here,” Jamili told The Muslim News.
Jamili had wanted to study journalism, but because “security was not safe for women, my mother wanted me to leave journalism.” Instead, she worked for the Ministry of Interior and studied French literature.
Photo: An inspiring group of Afghan women were invited to Parliament, seen with Minister Victoria Atkins [middle, second row] to meet with ministers to mark International Women’s Day on March 7.
(Credit: Ahmed J Versi/ The Muslim News)
She lost her father to cancer when she was 11. Her mother and younger brother escaped to Belgium. Left alone and with no male guardian, the three sisters were desperate to leave Afghanistan once the Taliban took over.
Another inspirational Afghan woman celebrated is Benafsha Yaqoobi, a disability rights activist who made the BBC’s 100 Women of 2021 list. Yaqoobi, who is visually impaired, founded the Rahyab Organisation in 2008 with her husband to provide education and rehabilitation to visually impaired people in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban invasion, she was forced to leave the country.
Among others, was Arefa Shafaei, a Chevening scholar who is studying at the University of York.
Zahra Joya, along with her sisters Sabria, Sharifa, and Fakhria, is the founder of a media company, Rukhshana Media, which shares women’s voices across Afghanistan. As a child in Afghanistan, Arefa pretended to be a boy to get an education.
The Afghanistan Resettlement Scheme is about welcoming people already in the UK. The Prime Minister set a maximum of 20,000 people for it. The Government also has a military scheme, the ARAP scheme, which people are still eligible for.
The Government continues its operation to resettle thousands of Afghans forced to flee, with over 19,000 Afghan evacuees already in the country.
