Thread by @MetroUK

‘Right now, in Afghanistan women have no power. Even to go out of the house, they have to ask permission.’

Since receiving asylum in the UK, Bahar fears for women’s lives in Afghanistan and wants to help.

This is her story 👇

trib.al/e2l1OSX

Bahar was a very happy girl in Afghanistan until the Taliban came to rule in 1997.

‘No woman could go out without a man accompanying. I lived like a prisoner at home.’

Bahar says the Taliban killed her two brothers, cousins, and fatally wounded her mother.

Soon after, she sought the help of an ‘agent’ who arranged the trip that would help her escape Afghanistan.

Bahar managed to escape Taliban rule and fled Afghanistan in 2000. She spent three years travelling through various countries by foot, lorry, train and taxi.

Bahar finally arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry while 8 months pregnant.

‘A month after arriving in the UK by lorry, I gave birth in hospital without an interpreter. It was scary – I was surrounded by doctors and nurses and I didn’t know what was happening to me. But having my daughter was life-changing.’

Bahar and her husband were given accommodation in Bradford whilst waiting for their asylum claim to be processed.

After a year they were granted refugee status for four years and moved to Leeds.

‘We couldn’t afford a TV licence, but we’d buy videos second-hand, and that’s how I started to learn English.’

Bahar also met an English couple, Dorothy and Chris, who helped her practice her English and gave her a high chair for her baby.

‘For years, I stayed at home raising my kids. Then, one day, I realised I wanted to make my mother proud. I applied for a volunteer role at Leeds Asylum Network, and got it – I looked after the new arrivals. I felt like I’d finally found myself.’

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, as women started to return to school, people thought there was going to be a new country.

But, Bahar says, ‘the Taliban are back in power, and women have lost everything again. I have only one sister in my life, and I really fear for her.’

The UK government says that 5,000 people will be resettled this year, and 15,000 over the next couple of years, but Bahar insists that it is too little, too late.

‘The government is criminalising Afghans who can’t afford to wait,’ says Bahar.

Bahar has since started @BaharAFG_Leeds to help support refugees from all different backgrounds to have equal opportunities in day to day UK life.

To read Bahar’s story in full, click below 👇

trib.al/e2l1OSX