Dozens fly out of Afghanistan, many more trapped in hiding

Dozens of Afghan interpreters with Australian refugee visas made it to Kabul’s airport through panicked crowds and Taliban gunfire, as others remained in hiding.

Two RAAF C-17A Globemaster III aircraft at Australia’s main operating base in the UAE on Wednesday. Picture: ADF / Getty Images

Dozens of Afghan interpreters with Australian refugee visas made it to Kabul’s airport through panicked crowds and Taliban gunfire, as others whose applications were yet to be approved remained in hiding.

Nila Monawari, a 27-year-old Afghan woman who worked as an interpreter for the Australian mentoring taskforce in Afghanistan, escaped the capital with her parents and four siblings, after a tense trip to the airport on Wednesday night AEST.

Ms Monawari was among 76 Australian citizens and Afghans with Australian visas who were put on a flight from Dubai to Australia on Thursday after being evacuated from Kabul on a British military flight.

She made it to the airport with the help of a WhatsApp chat group of 11 former interpreters who until recently worked for the Australian Defence Force in Kabul.

“The driver was not helping to take us right to the gate but after we offered him some more money he agreed to take us the right ­direction,” she said from the ­runway in Dubai before departing for Australia.

She said her former manager – a British man named Simon – was on the ground at the airport to help her family get inside the security cordon. “Once we got near the north gate, there were Afghan military guys who were firing repeatedly,” she said.

“But I just stood in the first line and asked my family to stay behind. They were scared. (The Taliban was) not allowing us to go through.

“But my manager asked me to give him a signal where exactly my location was. Once he saw me, he ran towards me like a hero and collected my family and I. There were many American and Australian military people. They helped us go inside after checking our passports and we got there safely. But still we were near the firing area.

“My little brother was scared even inside (the airport).”

Others who worked for Australian forces were yet to make it out of the country. The Australian spoke to a former ADF interpreter, Jawad, who remained in hiding with his wife and child in Kabul.

His visa application was still being processed but he had a Home Affairs file number and had been in contact with Australian officials as recently as Monday. “All of my documents are completed. I have sent all of my documents as well as the forms,” Jawad said. “The only thing remaining I think is the visa.”

The interpreter, who said he worked for the ADF for four years, was trying to decide on Thursday whether to attempt to get to the airport, amid word from the Australian government that it was considering those without visas who could prove an association with the ADF.

He said “it is impossible to get to the airport because there is a huge rush of people”.

“There is shooting from the other side as well as the Taliban forces so I can’t go now. And even if I go and even if I make it and I do not have any documents, I will not be allowed and it will all be in vain,” Jawad said.

“Hopefully I will get my visa processed today or tomorrow so I can come to Australia.”

Another interpreter, Najibullah Ahmadzai, helped other interpreters to get into the airport safely by posting regular updates on the WhatsApp chat group.

Mr Ahmadzai, who was en route to Australia late on Thursday, told refugee visa holders about 9.40pm on Wednesday AEST to get to the airport. “We have the officers of foreign affairs, immigration, Aussie soldiers,” he told the chat group. “They are doing a great job. They got us in.

“We are in a secure location now. They told me I am going out with them to recognise all my ­colleagues now. They request all of you to come to the north gate as soon as possible so we can go and get you in.

“Everyone coming to the gate should have a visa, they should be visa holders, otherwise I have an officer beside me – they are not ­allowed to get in.”