Afghan refugee in Catalonia views rise of Taliban as ‘torture’

Writer Nadia Ghulam, an Afghan refugee living in Catalonia, describes watching the rise of the Taliban in her home country as “torture.” 

Ghulam leads the Bridges for Peace association from Badalona, an organisation that helps 35 girls in Afghanistan go to school and read. 

“The girls say to me, ‘Nadia, you motivated me to study, but what good is it now?’” Ghulam explains in an interview with the Catalan News Agency. She wants to keep her educational programme alive, even if it must exist underground. 

Nadia Ghulam (Kabul, 1985) was able to leave Afghanistan thanks to an NGO 15 years ago for treatment for wounds caused by a bomb, but her family remain in the country. She lived through a civil war and the Taliban regime in her home country, and dressed like a man for 10 years just to go to work and support her family. 

During this time, she qualified as a social educator and has written books on the situation in her country that have earned her, among others, the Prudenci Bertrana Prize.

Ghulam tells the Catalan News Agency that a few days ago she was thrilled to see the photo of one of the girls from Bridges for Peace cycling through the Afghan capital of Kabul without hiding and without having to dress like a boy as she herself had to do.

Now, she sends messages of hope to the young people who feel they have lost everything. 

US sold a “lie” of peace

Ghulam has warned for years that the Taliban had never left Afghanistan, but rather the United States “sold the film" of peace that was a "lie." 

Calm was maintained only by the weapons of the military and their control, she says, adding that with the retreat, everything has started to fall apart.

“Now they (the U.S.) leave, and leave the guns in anyone’s hands as if they were candy,” Ghulam criticizes.

According to Ghulam, the attitude of the United States, the European Union and other international forces that have been in Afghanistan for years is "more than a betrayal" as she says they have armed the population, spurred governments marked by corruption, and are now leaving. “It's all out of control," she says.

The writer has worked with refugees in Lesbos before, and is highly disappointed by the attitude of the European Union and countries that for years have denied asylum to or even expelled Afghans because they considered Kabul "a safe place."

Ghulam points out that only those who flee something very serious, those seeking international protection, - an internationally recognized right - risk their lives "a thousand times over."

"When I look at the images of Kabul airport, helplessly, I realize that there are no human rights: they do not exist," she says. In fact, Ghulam no longer even wants to be called a human rights activist, because she frustratedly believes that no one listens to her and that she can’t turn her words into action.

Catalan president welcomes refugees 

Catalan president Pere Aragonès spoke with the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday and offered Catalonia to welcome as many refugees from Afghanistan as needed. 

Aragonés explained to the Catalan News Agency that Catalonia is open to help with the "humanitarian emergency" caused by the Taliban’s control in the country. 

The president also calls for speeding up all procedures to recognize the right to asylum of refugees in Catalonia. 

The Catalan foreign action minister, Victòria Alsina, has also sent a letter to the Spanish authorities urging them to issue humanitarian visas for Afghans in danger. 

"Welcoming those who fled their country because their lives are at risk is not an option, it is an international obligation,” a part of the letter reads. 

However, Nadia Ghulam sees the promises of the Catalan government as insufficient. "Just welcoming is not enough," she warns, calling for continued psychological and educational support that she, since arriving in Catalonia 15 years ago, has only received from civil society, from neighbours, teachers and family. 

"The Catalan and Spanish governments have not helped me,” she says.