Indian man in Australia trying to help rescue Afghan friend’s family

Adnan’s Indian friend in Australia is raising funds to help his family in Afghanistan as thousands scramble to flee the country after Taliban take-over.

Praful Vijay, a civil engineer based in Parkes, New South Wales has appealed for public’s support for his dear friend Adnan’s (not his real name) family members who are at risk to their lives and safety after the Taliban seized control of the country. 

Praful, orginally from Kota, Rajasthan, says Adnan’s family’s names and identity cannot be publicly disclosed since his family remains a high risk target. 

Praful says, “Adnan* and I met at university in Germany few years ago. As one of the sweetest people I know, it was impossible not to be friends with him. He has been an international exchange student at MNIT Jaipur where he did his bachelor’s in engineering and learnt some Hindi which connected us even more. We had great time studying, cooking, and travelling together in Europe.”

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Praful told NRI Affairs that Adnan’s father is a doctor, a professor at a university and also teaches secularism, which made him very unpopular with Taliban sympathisers among his colleagues and students. Taliban’s seizure of Kabul has made Adnan’s father and his family high risk targets of the new regime for being branded ‘anti-Taliban’.

“Adnan’s father’s house, his clinic and his university office were attacked because Taliban was looking for him. Luckily, his family had managed to escape and move to a ‘rented’ safe house in a secret location.” Cost of safe rental accommodation has skyrocketed as has the cost of food and other living expenses, according to Praful. Safe transport by road to a border crossing is also extremely expensive, Adnan has informed Praful, which is why he needs to raise the funds from the public.

Adnan was born in Kabul, and has been living for the last 7 years in Germany and is a German citizen. He is a civil engineer and works with the German government. Adnan is married with 2 kids.

Adnan says, “My Family in Kabul need urgent help and must be evacuated from there because their life is 100 % at risk and the Taliban are searching for them. My mom is a schoolteacher, my father is a professor at Kabul medical university and worked in the past 20 years with different international organizations e.g. WHO, USAID, FMIC, FAIM, JICA etc and is known as a secular and anti-Talibanist person among his colleagues and students even in social media.” 

Adnan’s two sisters (18 and 13) are students, and his brother (28) is a dentist. His father came to Germany to visit him and his family in Germany and was due to return from Hamburg to Kabul was on 20 August but his flight got cancelled.  Now, with no flights operating to Kabul, Adnan’s father is stranded in Germany, with the rest of the family stuck in Kabul.

Adnan says, “The only solution is to take my family out from Kabul!”

“My one and only request from you is to please make the circle bigger and try your best to get them evacuated by any of the western countries including Australia, because most of them have already announced to accept some Afghan refugees. If my family get an official letter from any European country, Canada, Australia or USA, then they can easily cross the border to any of the neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and can reach themselves to the embassies of the above mentioned countries.”, Adnan told NRI Affairs.

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Some military aircrafts are currently operating and rescuing people from Kabul Airport. I used and will use any opportunity and am just trying to get them out of there. I prefer for them Germany, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, USA.”

“The only way now is that they should walk through the borders for getting visas for 2000 to 3000 US dollars per person”, Adnan adds.

Apart from his emotional challenges, he is struggling to raise the finances required to transport his family out of Afghanistan.

The best way to support Adnan and his family is by direct donation in his bank or his Paypal account. Those willing to help, please send a personal message via Praful’s Facebook page.  

According to Praful, Adnan’s  has entrusted him to collect money on his behalf via Paypal Account Name: Praful Vijay, Paypal ID prafulvj25@gmail.com

*Name changed for privacy and family’s safety.