Welcome to friends

Because they were committed to the rights of girls and women through Terre des Hommes projects, they were forced to flee their homeland. After the radical Islamist Taliban seized power in Kabul in August of last year, their lives were no longer safe. Twenty-three staff members from terre des hommes projects and 45 of their family members were able to be evacuated from Afghanistan. They found shelter in Osnabrück, Berlin, Neumünster, Stuttgart, Kassel, Frankfurt, and Hamburg. Volunteers from local Terre des Hommes groups are assisting them as they arrive and find their bearings.

 

"Mohammad is a truly charming young man. He's kind, funny, and optimistic," Barbara from the Hamburg group enthuses about her new friend. When she received the email from the Terre des Hommes office asking members if they could support the project staff evacuated from Afghanistan—for example, in finding accommodation, acquiring furniture and household appliances, or dealing with authorities—she didn't hesitate for long: "This was exactly the right thing for me. Because I'm no longer working, I have my family, a horse, a wonderful life, and plenty of free time. I thought: Now you have a job again. And with Terre des Hommes you also have an institution behind you and you're not alone if things should arise."

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 68 people were brought to safety in Germany. They do not have to go through the asylum process and have received a humanitarian residence permit under Section 22, Sentence 2 of the Residence Act. Accommodation and living expenses are covered by the job center. Most have already started language courses, and their children attend 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 positive initiatives in the coalition agreement of the traffic light coalition government and Foreign Minister Baerbock's Afghanistan Action Plan must now be followed by action," said Joshua Hofert, program director at Terre des Hommes . "The planned humanitarian admission program is a sensible building block. But for human rights defenders who are currently under acute threat from the Taliban, this lengthy process may come too late. We therefore call on the federal government to reopen the so-called human rights list and process reported cases in an unbureaucratic and transparent process based on Section 22, Sentence 2 of the Residence Act. This protection must also be extended to relatives beyond the nuclear family, as otherwise family members left behind could themselves become victims of persecution."

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.