Welcome to friends

Because they were committed to the rights of girls and women as part of Terre Des Hommes projects, they had to flee from their homeland. After the radical Islamist Taliban took over the power in Kabul in August last year, her life was no longer certain. 23 employees from terre des hommes projects and 45 of their family members could be evacuated from Afghanistan. They found protection in Osnabrück, Berlin, Neumünster, Stuttgart, Kassel, Frankfurt and Hamburg. When arriving and finding yourself, volunteers from the local Terre Des Hommes groups are at your side.

 

»Mohammad is a very charming young man. He is nice, funny and optimistic, ”enthuses Barbara from the Hamburg group of her new friend. When she received the email from the Terre Des Hommes office in which the club members were asked whether they could support the project staff evacuated from Afghanistan -for example when looking for accommodation, the procurement of furniture and household appliances or in the event of authorities -she did not hesitate long: »That was just the right thing for me. Because I don't work anymore, I have my family, a horse, a wonderful life and a lot of free time. Then I thought: So now you have a task again. And with Terre Des Hommes you also have an institution in your back and are not alone if there are difficulties. "

So far there have been no: Barbara has shown Mohammad Hamburg - the port, the Elbphilharmonie, the ships, the city center and the town hall. She troubled German with him and sewed curtains, because in the windows of the two-room ground floor apartment in the Jenfeld district, where he lives with three other young refugees from Afghanistan, everyone could look inside.

Barbara is enthusiastic about Mohammad's diligence and his hospitality: »He has full booklets with German verbs and then he shows me. Whenever I come to him, there is something to eat or drinks. His roommates bring everything into the room on soft soles and then move again. "

The affection is mutual. Mohammad says: »I lack the words to describe Barbara. She is a wonderful person. When I have a question, she is there and always knows an answer. "

 

Numerous human rights defenders in Afghanistan still endangered

With the help of Terre Des Hommes in Germany, 68 people could be brought to safety. You do not have to use the asylum procedure and receive a humanitarian residence permit according to § 22 sentence 2 Residence Act. The cost of accommodation and livelihood is financed by the job center. Most have already started language courses, their children go to school and kindergarten.

But many other human rights defenders are still at great danger in Afghanistan. They are threatened and intimidated. terre des hommes urgently calls on the federal government to finally grant all those who are at risk in Afghanistan because they have campaigned for human rights, against the forced marriage of girls or for women's rights.

"The good approaches in the coalition agreement of the traffic light government and in the Afghanistan campaign plan of Foreign Minister Baerbock must now follow acts," said Joshua Hofert, program manager at Terre Des Hommes . »The planned humanitarian recording program is a sensible building block. But for human rights defenders who are acutely threatened by the Taliban today, this lengthy procedure may come too late. Therefore, we ask the federal government to reopen the so -called human rights list and to process reported cases in an unbureaucratic and transparent procedure based on § 22 sentence 2 Residence Act. The protection must also be expanded to relatives beyond the core family, since otherwise family members left back could be persecuted. «

The project work continues

Even if many employees from terre des hommes projects are currently not able to see an almost safe life in Afghanistan and leave the country or want to do so -others stay there and the project work has now started again.

"We at terre des hommes and our local organizations know the new rules of the Taliban government and have to at least partially arrange ourselves," explains Joshua Hofert. »This means, for example, that girls and boys can be taught separately. But despite everything, we continue to work that girls as well as boys can grow up in a dignified and self -determined environment and know their rights. « terre des hommes definitely wants to continue the project work in Afghanistan. Because the people there need our support more than ever.