Afghan family hunted by Taliban battle Australian government for visas

Her brother was killed while working with Australian troops in Afghanistan but Najia Amiri’s desperate pleas to save her remaining family from the Taliban are going unheeded.

Najia Amiri’s family has a bloody history working for Australia. Her brother Hashmatullah Amiri was killed by a rogue member of the Afghan National Army alongside three Australian soldiers during an operation in the province of Uruzgan a decade ago.

Fearing her husband, a former interpreter, would be next, Najia fled Afghanistan to the safety of Newcastle.

But her mother and father, her siblings, her aunts and uncles were a collective red rag to a bull to the vengeful Taliban, hungry to hunt down traitors and make an example of them.

The family fled to Pakistan, hoping it would be the first step to a safe passage to Australia but calls for help fell on deaf ears. Their visa expired and they were deported back to Afghanistan.

“The Taliban soon knew we were back in Afghanistan and they knew they would kill them,” Najia, who cannot be photographed, told The Saturday Telegraph.

“They were calling my family, they were saying ‘we want your son. We will find you. We will find you and punish you for working with the Australians’.

Hashmatullah Amiri, an interpreter, was killed by a rogue member of the Afghan National Army alongside three Australian soldiers during an operation in the province of Uruzgan.

Hashmatullah Amiri’s family are still trying to escape Afghanistan.

“Then on August 15 the Taliban attacked my uncle’s house trying to find my family to kill them.

“They attacked and killed all of my uncle’s family, son, daughter … very upsetting,” she said through tears.

“My dad was hiding, my sister was hiding, everyone was hiding separately but when my dad knew the Taliban killed his brother and my uncle’s sons and daughters he again called the Australian government.

“He said ‘the Taliban told me it’s a warning, we will find you as soon as possible and kill you’. My dad said, ‘Send us a visa or something, we will go to airport and we will save our life’.”

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When the family first managed to get inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport terminal
they were told by an Australian civilian to leave because they did not have a visa.

They presented correspondence from their legal team in Australia stating they were represented and being arranged visas.

“We then arranged for them to be evacuated by US aircraft,” said lawyer and veteran Glenn Kolomeitz.

“This family got to Al-Maktoum from HKIA and then sat there waiting for more than 28 hours for Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Australian Defence Force to retrieve them and take them to the Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai.

“DFAT never arrived such that the family was transferred to the Ramstein Air Base processing centre in Berlin.

“They were subsequently placed in the Ramstein Air Base Refugee Camp pending transfer to their ‘designated country’ – they have been told this will probably be Uganda.

“They are in possession of correspondence from us stating we act for them and expect the Australian government to exercise its responsibility in this regard.”

Najia Amiri’s sisters, who remain in Afghanistan, were seriously injured after the Taliban attacked their house.

Neighbours had to take the women to hospital. One sister remains missing.

Mr Kolomeitz and the team from GAP Legal Services have sent multiple emails urging the Australian government to intervene and bring the family to Australia to their relatives in Newcastle but they are met with silence.

In one email seen by The Saturday Telegraph they wrote: “We have been in constant one-way communication with your department regarding this family. We are also in constant communication with their Australian family, the sister of which is now suffering mental anguish as a result of this debacle.

“We anticipate you have included this family in your undertaking to issue visas to all of our clients or, alternately, will now arrange for this family to fill 17 of the temporary humanitarian visa positions allotted by the government. Three of these requested ‘positions’ are babies.”

Now, the 17 relatives of Hashmatullah, who lost his life fighting for Australia, are stuck in a refugee camp in Texas in the worst state of limbo with no idea when they will see their relatives in Australia, or what will become of those left behind in Afghanistan.

It’s a devastating situation for Hashmatullah’s sister, helplessly waiting and hoping her family will be reunited.

“There are 17 members of my family in Texas, my two brothers, wives and his kids, one of my sisters’ husband,” she said.

“My mum is crying, saying ‘please please help us’.

“My three sisters are left behind in Afghanistan. One sister is missing. On the 28th of August they attacked her house, broke her cars, they broke her leg and hit my other sister. It’s very, very bad for them.

“My neighbours took her to hospital. There is no one helping my family. I can’t call my sisters now because they will find them. The Taliban said ‘this is a warning’. Any minute they will kill my sister. This is so very upsetting.

“My family helped the Australians, why won’t they help us and bring my family?”

International humanitarian Dr Kay Danes said “the failure of the Australian government in this story reflects a dilemma that thousands of Australian visa holders are experiencing in Kabul as they move from house to house hoping to avoid brutal reprisals from Taliban”.

“All of these families and those from the US, UK and Germany are now relying on volunteers like myself to ensure they have accurate information to make informed decisions about their safety,” Dr Danes said.

“Some feel completely frustrated and despair because they don’t have the financial capacity to
help secure flights for people being hunted.

“That’s an enormous moral undertaking for volunteers when it should be the responsibility of governments who have the financial capacity, human resources and political clout for such things.”

Australian citizens and visa holders prepare to board the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft in August.

Dr Danes said she also knew of many small businesses in Australia that are doing a great deal of work for free, and at the expense of their core business.

“Australians are generous but sadly their government is not matching that generosity and that failure will be one of the considerations of a Senate Inquiry,” she said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.

Arrivals have lost everything

Afghans have a long and respected role in the development of Australia, particularly the inland trade routes.

The role of the Afghan camel trains in early transport is remembered in the name of the Ghan railway, now a luxury railway service on the north-south route from Adelaide to Darwin.

Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan since 2001 is well documented. Afghans and Australians worked together in the effort to return Afghanistan to a free and democratic society following years of war and tyrannical rule.

Australian citizens and visa holders evacuated from Afghanistan are assisted off their flight by Australian Defence members in late August.

During this time Australian soldiers, diplomats, and aid workers have been enabled by local Afghan people working in government roles, as interpreters, office staff and many other critical roles.

Unfortunately, the efforts of 20 years have now come to an abrupt and unexpected turning point that has left the people who assisted Australian mission in fear of their lives.

Independent humanitarian advocate Pat Ryan said that over the coming months the Afghans arriving in Australia have to start a new life with only the clothes they stand in.

“They have fled their homes, leaving almost everything they own behind because of the persecution they face for having served with Australia,” he said.

Ryan is co-ordinating with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Mission Office to support new families.

The services they are offering include finding short to medium term accommodation, helping with necessities like clothing, shoes and household needs and providing $100 gift cards for use at any EFTPOS or ATM.

“Funds donated to The Afghan Refugees Assistance Fund are distributed on a hand up not a hand out basis,” Ryan said.

“The fund helps our beneficiaries with immediate needs and fills the gaps in government assistance programs ultimately they get themselves established in Australia.”

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