- Title: Afghan refugee family struggles in Russia as fears of deportation grow
- Date: 23rd August 2021
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 19, 2021) (REUTERS) AFGHANI REFUGEE LIVING IN RUSSIA, KHATERA NOORY, SERVING MEAL FOR HER FAMILY FOOD ON TABLE VARIOUS OF NOORY'S DAUGHTERS EATING VARIOUS OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS ON WALL NOORY AND HER DAUGHTERS EATING VARIOUS OF NOORY'S DAUGHTER READING KORAN NOORY AND HER DAUGHTER SPEAKING TO ONE ANOTHER (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHANI REFUGEE, KHATERA NOORY, SAYING: "My husband worked with the Americans and his brothers were in the Taliban. The Taliban beat him up for reading books and working with Americans. This forced us to leave Afghanistan. Now we cannot go to Afghanistan and have no relations with anyone there." NOORY'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHANI REFUGEE, KHATERA NOORY, SAYING: "We want to be given any sort of documents so that we can live in peace in Russia." VARIOUS OF NOORY'S DAUGHTERS READING BOOKS AS PART OF THEIR STUDIES NOORY'S SON, OSIMA. SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) NOORY'S SON, OSIMA, SAYING: "The immigration authorities said it is not a threat. I said to one of them 'let's go to a place where we lived, see together what is going on there, what happens to people, and then decide if it is a threat or not.'" KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS VIEWS OF KABUL MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 19, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) NOORY'S SON, OSIMA, SAYING: "The first issue for me is getting education (in Russia) and access to medicine. Those are my problems - the same as every refugee coming to Russia." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) NOORY'S SON, OSIMA, SAYING: "We are following the situation in Afghanistan. I don't know how to describe my feelings. There has been a war there for 40 years and will be for 40 more." VARIOUS OF NOORY'S FAMILY DINING
- Embargoed: 6th September 2021 18:35
- Keywords: Russia Taliban conditions family migrant refugee
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA / KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA / KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Europe,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001ERI3E49
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Three years ago, Khatera Noory, her husband Zabiullah and their four children fled to Russia from Afghanistan, fearing prosecution by the Taliban.
After they arrived, Zabiullah found a job as a labourer in a fruit and vegetable market, which earns him enough to rent a room in an apartment on the outskirts of Moscow.
Now, the family fears that they may lose a little of what they have as concerns of deportation grow among Afghani refugees living in Russia.
Russia has so far taken a cautious approach when it comes to refugees from Afghanistan.
"We do not want to have militants disguised as refugees from Afghanistan," said President Vladimir Putin on Sunday (August 22).
Last week, Russian authorities deported several Afghani nationals who stayed in Russia after entering the country using Euro 2020 fan IDs.
Noory's family has been trying to get temporary asylum papers for a long time but without any success so far.
Her son, Osima, said that immigration services did not consider the family's situation as life-threatening.
According to Noory, they had to flee the country after threats from the Taliban directed towards her husband, who was reading books that were considered unwanted by the movement members.
In the current circumstances, returning back to Afghanistan would be dangerous for the family, said Noory, and now the only safe option for them is staying in Russia.
"We want to be given any sort of documents so that we can live in peace in Russia," she said.
According to the UNHCR data, 514 refugees from Afghanistan received temporary asylum status in Russia in 2020.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, asked if Russia will be accepting more refugees, said that Russia will be guided "solely by international obligations under international humanitarian law."
(Production: Dmitry Turlyun, Gennadiy Novik) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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