On January 20, a cold morning, I woke up early and prepared to go to the office. He had several tasks to do, including preparing an important interview. My computer was open and the ideas flowed while my day began. Suddenly my phone rang, It was a WhatsApp message from Maryam, a young journalist I met months ago. He said: “Mrs. Amin, can I talk to you?” Without thinking much, I replied: “Yes, no problem.” A few seconds later, I received a video call. Because my office was somewhat crowded, I decided to go to the hall to have more privacy. And seeing Maryam’s face, I felt restless. His eyes were full of tears, and his voice, chopped and trembling, It showed a palpable fear.
“Mrs. Amin, I’m very afraid,” he told me in a broken voice. “I don’t know what to do. There is no safe place for us” What struck me most was despair in his voice. Maryam, a brave Afghan journalist, had been threatened on several occasions for your work. As a result, he decided to flee from Afghanistan, seeking refuge in Pakistan in the hope of finding a safer future. However, the sad reality was that he was still safe.
Maryam continued, trying to contain her crying: “I rented a room, but I don’t feel safe anymore. People here watch me in a way that makes me feel vulnerable and without protection. ” The anguish in his words was reflected on his face, he was trapped in a nightmare from which he could not wake up. He had fled from a country where the life of women was in constant danger, only to meet a new country where the dangers persisted, although in a different way. The vulnerability of Afghan women knows no bordersand Maryam had experienced it in his own flesh.
“I thought that at least here I could be calm, but I was wrong,” he said, with his voice full of sadness. “I feel that I don’t have a place to find peace.” Not only Maryam, but Many Afghan women are trapped in an endless cycle of fear and flight. War, threats and violence push them to escape, but they don’t always find the security they are looking for. For many of them, exile is not the solution, but an extension of their sufferings.
Maryam described his situation in more detail: “In the neighborhood, everyone looks at me as if I were a strange. I don’t feel welcome, I don’t feel sure. And the worst thing is that I can’t trust anyone” His words made me think of the fate of thousands of women who, like her, are looking for a shelter outside their country, just to meet other types of threats. Living as a refugee woman, far from her homeland, is a constant struggle to find security, dignity and a place where they can live without fear.
Living as a refugee woman, far from her homeland, is a constant struggle
I asked Maryam: “Have you considered asking for help or connecting with an organization that can provide you with support?” She nodded slowly, but her expression showed that she no longer had much hope: “I tried, but it is not easy. There are not many options for us. Everything is complicated. “
Thousands of Afghan women, after fleeing oppression and violence, face a new form of suffering in countries where they are looking for refuge. The fight to find a safe place to live is even more difficult when you are a woman in a patriarchal societywhere women’s rights are often violated.
“Sometimes I regret having fled. Maybe I should have stayed in Afghanistan, At least there I had a clear purpose“Maryam confessed to me. “Now I just feel that I am fleeing from one place to another without finding peace.” His statement hurt deeply. What she expected as a solution, now she looked like a chain more than she kept her trapped. However, their strength and determination remained evident. Despite fear and hopelessness, He kept fighting for something more than surviving.
I said: “Maryam, I know the situation is difficult, but you are not alone. Do not give up. There are many women like you who are fighting, and Your voice is important. Don’t let fear consume you. ” She, although even with a broken voice, nodded. “I know, but some days he feels as if he no longer had strength. I am exhausted. ”
Looking at his face, I could see that behind his words there was a resilience that had not yet disappeared completely. The pain and anguish were there, but there was also a flash of hope. Maryam still believed that, despite everything, he could find an exit to his suffering, although he did not know how. Finally, I said: “Your story matters, and it is the story of so many other Afghan women who are fighting for a better future. Do not lose hope, because there is a future in which we can live without fear, although now it seems distant. ”
While the conversation came to an end, I was thinking of the thousands of similar stories, women who have been displaced, who have left their homeland and their families behind, only to meet new forms of violence, insecurity and hopelessness. The struggle to find a safe and worthy shelter is a constant battle, and The path to peace and freedom is still full of obstacles.
Maryam’s story, like many others, is A call for attention to the situation facing Afghan womenboth inside his country and outside him. Meanwhile, hope is still the lighthouse that keeps them standing, fighting for a future in which, one day, they can live without fear.
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