- Title: After Taliban takeover, Afghans in the Gulf worry about home
- Date: 30th August 2021
- Summary: DUBAI, UAE (AUGUST 29, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AFGHAN WOMAN, ABADET, WITH HER DAUGHTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AFGHAN WOMAN, ABADET, SAYING: "The brutality that they (Taliban) have is that they don't show mercy towards women and if they see young women without males they marry them by force, also if a woman is with no man they own her and marry her. So women's rights are lost over there especially that we don't have men, our life is difficult in Afghanistan especially now with the Taliban in charge, it's very hard." VARIOUS OF ABADET WITH HER DAUGHTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AFGHAN WOMAN, ABADET, SAYING: "My family are now in Kabul. I'm really scared for them and I wish I can help them and bring them to me or any other country that is safe." RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (AUGUST 26, 2021) (REUTERS) STREET IN RIYADH EXTERIOR OF A RESTAURANT PEOPLE IN THE RESTAURANT VARIOUS OF CHEF MAKING RICE VARIOUS OF MAN HANDING ORDER TO CUSTOMER (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) AFGHAN WORKING IN RIYADH, KHALID ABDULRASHED, SAYING: "Now that the Taliban have captured Afghanistan, if it is the Taliban or the Afghan government whichever is for the betterment of Afghanistan, I pray that Allah grants them success." EXTERIOR OF GROCERY STORE VARIOUS OF AFGHAN WORKERS IN GROCERY STORE CUSTOMER HANDING MONEY TO SALESMAN (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) AFGHAN WORKING IN RIYADH, SHEREN AGHA, SAYING: "Currently Taliban are in power in Afghanistan, therefore some concerns and troubles do exist, but God willing in the future everything will become good. We want the government to be formed, Taliban are also our brothers, they are in government now, we want to have a government so that in the future everything gets back to normal. Right now the situation is very bad in Afghanistan, there are poor people who don't have food so we request attention to all of them." WORKERS AND CUSTOMERS INSIDE THE GROCERY STORE SALESMAN HANDING MONEY TO CUSTOMER
- Embargoed: 13th September 2021 12:04
- Keywords: Afghanistan Conflict Dubai Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Workers
- Location: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA AND DUBAI, UAE
- City: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA AND DUBAI, UAE
- Country: Various
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA002ESH28G7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Five months ago, 35-year-old Abadet left Afghanistan with her two teenage daughters for the Gulf fearing for their safety after a series of explosions in the city where they lived.
Now safe in the United Arab Emirates, Abadet fears for her family back in Afghanistan following the swift take over by the Taliban that culminated this month with the capture of Kabul.
"I'm really scared for them and I wish I can help them and bring them to me or any other country that is safe," she said of her mother and three sisters who are now in Kabul.
Abadet recalled witnessing a street battle in Afghanistan's Mazar-e-Sharif between government and Taliban forces, which she described as "horrible" and the Taliban of being "very brutal."
She said she worries women's lives in will become increasingly difficult under the Taliban, who she said were merciless towards women and forced single young women to marry.
"Women's rights are lost over there especially that we don't have men, our life is difficult in Afghanistan especially now with the Taliban in charge," said Abadet, who did not disclose her surname.
The Taliban have sought to reassure they will respect women's rights this time round, having largely barred them from working or studying during their 1996-2001 rule.
The proclamations have been met with doubt.
In neighboring Saudi Arabia, Afghan migrant Khalid Abdulrashed told Reuters he prays for peace in his country and that all those who recently fled will be able to return safely.
Others hope that a looming economic crisis caused by the Taliban takeover can be staved off.
"We want the government to be formed, Taliban are also our brothers, they are in government now, we want to have a government so that in the future everything gets back to normal," Afghan migrant Sheren Agha said in Riyadh.
(Production: Mohammed Benmansour, Abdelhadi Ramahi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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