Afghan Translator Who Fled His Country Fears for the Family He Was Forced to Leave Behind

A 39-year-old man who served as a translator for the Italian army and embassy in Afghanistan says he’s relieved to be secure in Italy however worries about his spouse and 4 younger kids again in Kabul.

He stated earlier than he left the Afghan capital, he noticed Taliban fighters marking an X on the properties of individuals like him who had labored with Western forces throughout their 20-year warfare in Afghanistan.

“They might come again the following day and both carry him to jail or kill him,’’ the refugee advised The Related Press.

He requested to have his id and picture withheld for the protection of him and his household.

He’s one in every of 4,890 Afghan residents delivered to Italy after the Taliban claimed management of Kabul and Western nations launched a rare airlift on Aug. 15 to evacuate residents and native allies earlier than the final U.S. troops pulled out by Tuesday’s deadline.

Italian International Minister Luigi Di Maio says Italy is housing probably the most evacuated Afghans of any European Union nation.

The person who labored as a translator for Italy was observing a 10-day COVID-19 quarantine at a tent camp arrange inside 48 hours within the Apennine mountains of central Abruzzo as a method station for greater than 1,300 new arrivals.

Additionally they will get vaccinated on the camp and from there switch to different areas to pursue formal requests for refugee standing.

The camp, run collectively by Italy’s Civil Safety Company and the Pink Cross, is to shut on Friday.

On Tuesday, The Related Press noticed some boys there taking part in soccer and women taking part in with dolls.

The one-time army and embassy translator can not assist pondering of his three daughters, ages 10, 7 and three, his 2-year-old son and the way his spouse is getting by with out him.

There was no hope of getting them out within the chaos final week in Kabul, he stated.

“I’m unhappy and apprehensive for that. I’m the top of the household and the one individual within the household that labored,’’ he stated.

“They don’t have a spot to cover. We lived within the heart of Kabul. That is harmful for them. I arrived seven days in the past, and I haven’t heard how they’re, and the place they’re.”

He posted a video on another person’s Fb web page and hopes his household sees it by likelihood.

“I hope they see I’m doing properly, that I’m in Italy,’’ he stated. “I requested in the event that they had been OK, and hopefully they can even reply.”

He’s sure he couldn’t have stayed in Afghanistan.

“For me, there was no hope … the chance was 100% as a result of I labored with the Italian army. That is one thing they don’t need,” he stated.

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