3 Afghan women athletes including Benafsha, a wheelchair basketball player, have been in a safehouse for over 2 years. They have secured visas for France to resettle. We need funds for their plane tickets and exit visas.
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The last few days have been chaotic but we have great news. Please do not share the following update. I've posted on instagram a public post but this has more sensitive informatin for everyone that has been supporting the campaign to give you an insight as to what goes on in the final days of departure.
Our young women have arrived in France! For those of you who have been through this with me before you know its never smooth for those crossing borders or leaving their lilypad countries. (Lilypads are countries where Afghans were evacuated to in order to access embassies and wait for visas for third countries which may or may not ever arrive). The most common lilypad I've used has been Pakistan because I chose to move my Afghan groups out as quickly as could by road in 2021. I produced passports outside of Afghanistan for those who did not have them and got Pakistani visas for the border crossing. I did this for the majority of the 150 I supported.
These Afghans that your donations have supported were a unique situation. They are three sisters. Benafsha was on my list as she was an official wheelchair basketball player with the para federation. I had her on multiple evacuation lists with FIFA, with the US State Department and with Italy - along with the cyclists who were on a humanitarian flight in July 2022. She and her sister Nargis were accepted as part of that group in 2021 and the Italian, British, and International Para Federation were all alerted. Then once I evacuated the three sisters to Pakistan, the Italian coordinator dropped the three from the list, just a week before the flight started preparing embassy visits for the group. They were left behind with no explanation and no assistance for getting on the second flight.
Two years later, they evaded deportation sweeps through Pakistan that sent millions of Afghans back across the border. They were able to secure French visas through the eldest sister Nargis, who had a journalistic background. Nargis was also a national team handball goalie which is why she was originally on my list. I did not know that the three were sisters originally. Just that they were three athletes traveling together. Juggling over 1000 athletes names meant unless I was told family relationships specifically I wasn't aware. Many young women, the cyclists in particular traveled and evacuated together without family.
So. The three sisters traveled and their brother joined them to act as an escort across the border as the Taliban had banned women traveling alone by the time they evacuated. He stayed and has been a lifeline at a time when three Afghan women with expired Pakistani visas would have been a vulnerable target. He was not given a visa by France. Too often the male members of the family are refused, brothers, fathers, and even older teenage sons are left off evacuation and resettlement lists, Muslim men are considered dangerous rather than understood to be vulnerable as well. And they have been the protectors in many cases of their family members. It is heartbreaking as western countries continue to demonize Muslim men and break up families.
The three sisters recieved French visas and all of you sprung into action to raise the money for airfare, overstay penalities and exit visas. In the last week a humanitarian organization reached out to purchase the airline tickets directly. This was a huge help but also it sped up our timeline to transfer funds into Pakistan that were necessary to purchase the exit visas which totalled almost $3,000. Western Union blocked my transfer twice. To two different members of the family. They would not believe I knew the people I was sending money and refused to send the money. Finally I was forced to send it to a dear friend in a nearby town who is a professional Pakistani athlete. Then she can deliver it to the brother directly. But it is another example of how difficult it is to support Afghans. Western Union's reason for the block was protecting me from fraud. I had lengthy conversations explaining who I was, who they were, and why I was sending money. It is not their business to know that much information. But once I explained, they still determined it was fraud and that I could not send my own money. It is not up to Western Union to do this. It has only been an issue in the transfers to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
When the girls departed, the tickets were through Lahore instead of Islamabad, so the escort I had arranged to make sure they got through airport security safely and without harassment was unavailable. Lahore is a 4-5 hour journey away. They had all the documentation they needed so it should have been no different than if you or I flew out of an airport. They had passports, visas, and exit permits with proof of payment. But instead, like previous times, the women were harassed, threatened, stalled to the point of almost missing their flight, and in this case videoed by the Pakistani authorities. They were in tears by the time they got through. The humiliation of Afghan women is unending and what they have endured in Afghanistan under the Taliban, and in Pakistan under the authorities there has been abusive, corrupt, and appalling. The groups ahead of them have experienced the same so it is not a case of one bad experience. It is systemic and targeting Afghans.
That's the most information I've ever shared about this piece of the puzzle. The girls have arrived in Paris last night. I had booked an apartment for the first week. They had two weeks to surrender themselves to the French authorities so they requested a week of housing before they did this. I also several people reaching out to friends and colleagues in Paris for support to pick up at the airport, buy groceries, and show the girls around public transportation, etc. Just hours before the flight, the French goverment contacted Nargis to let her know that the French governement/refugee agency would be meeting them at the airport and taking them to housing.
Hours before their flight. Understand that this is good news and incredibly shitty planning by anyone's standards. The three young women are flying into a major European capital and speak no English. They've been told to arrange their own housing, which we did. Then just hours before they fly they are told its all taken care of. This would have eliminated days of work and fundraising on our side and so much stress on their side.
So the good news is they have arrived, and they are safe. 'ish.
What we don't know is, where are they exactly now. What the housing conditions are? Housing or refugee camp? How long will they be staying there? What kind of support with the French government provide? These are the questions that we will get in due course. I'll be continuing to update on instagram if the sisters ask for support, but we've been able to raise some funds, and the extra funds raised will get transferred to them in Paris for them once they have let me know they are ready to collect.
They have agreed to send a photo once they are settled and I'll share that and for now - this is a photo they sent the day before they got ready to depart and said to share.
Salina, Nargis, and Benefsha from left to right.
Thank you. Tashakur. Merci.
Shannon
Over 2 years ago, when I was evacuating Afghan cyclists I was asked to assist the para federation with several athletes. One group of young women, made up of three different Afghan athletes evacuated to Pakistan. One is Benafsha, a wheelchair basketball player and member of the para federation who was accompanyied by a handball national team player and a member of the women’s weightlifting federation. All three young women were originally in a list for a humanitarian flight to Italy with the cyclists, but were dropped with no explanation from the Italian who was helping. It has been a nightmare for them and many others like them, not just abandoned by their own federations, but by the international community and sports federations as well.
They have also had no help from from their federations, shockingly no help from the international para federation or the IOC. We lobbied hard and loudly in 2021 for over a year. I helped financially for as long as I could, and these athletes have endured on their own along with one of their brothers who acted as an escort in hopes of securing a visa.
By a miracle, they have received three visas for France. But they must provide their own commercial air travel. And funds to pay their expired visa fees to Pakistan on departure. In reality this is a tiny fraction of money to secure a new life. But it's a barrier when they have nothing.
We need to raise $6000 quickly to get three Afghan athletes to France to restart their lives nearly 3 years after the US and UK abandoned their country. I have started a gofundme linked in my bio to get this final group safe.
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The last few days have been chaotic but we have great news. Please do not share the following update. I've posted on instagram a public post but this has more sensitive informatin for everyone that has been supporting the campaign to give you an insight as to what goes on in the final days of departure.
Our young women have arrived in France! For those of you who have been through this with me before you know its never smooth for those crossing borders or leaving their lilypad countries. (Lilypads are countries where Afghans were evacuated to in order to access embassies and wait for visas for third countries which may or may not ever arrive). The most common lilypad I've used has been Pakistan because I chose to move my Afghan groups out as quickly as could by road in 2021. I produced passports outside of Afghanistan for those who did not have them and got Pakistani visas for the border crossing. I did this for the majority of the 150 I supported.
These Afghans that your donations have supported were a unique situation. They are three sisters. Benafsha was on my list as she was an official wheelchair basketball player with the para federation. I had her on multiple evacuation lists with FIFA, with the US State Department and with Italy - along with the cyclists who were on a humanitarian flight in July 2022. She and her sister Nargis were accepted as part of that group in 2021 and the Italian, British, and International Para Federation were all alerted. Then once I evacuated the three sisters to Pakistan, the Italian coordinator dropped the three from the list, just a week before the flight started preparing embassy visits for the group. They were left behind with no explanation and no assistance for getting on the second flight.
Two years later, they evaded deportation sweeps through Pakistan that sent millions of Afghans back across the border. They were able to secure French visas through the eldest sister Nargis, who had a journalistic background. Nargis was also a national team handball goalie which is why she was originally on my list. I did not know that the three were sisters originally. Just that they were three athletes traveling together. Juggling over 1000 athletes names meant unless I was told family relationships specifically I wasn't aware. Many young women, the cyclists in particular traveled and evacuated together without family.
So. The three sisters traveled and their brother joined them to act as an escort across the border as the Taliban had banned women traveling alone by the time they evacuated. He stayed and has been a lifeline at a time when three Afghan women with expired Pakistani visas would have been a vulnerable target. He was not given a visa by France. Too often the male members of the family are refused, brothers, fathers, and even older teenage sons are left off evacuation and resettlement lists, Muslim men are considered dangerous rather than understood to be vulnerable as well. And they have been the protectors in many cases of their family members. It is heartbreaking as western countries continue to demonize Muslim men and break up families.
The three sisters recieved French visas and all of you sprung into action to raise the money for airfare, overstay penalities and exit visas. In the last week a humanitarian organization reached out to purchase the airline tickets directly. This was a huge help but also it sped up our timeline to transfer funds into Pakistan that were necessary to purchase the exit visas which totalled almost $3,000. Western Union blocked my transfer twice. To two different members of the family. They would not believe I knew the people I was sending money and refused to send the money. Finally I was forced to send it to a dear friend in a nearby town who is a professional Pakistani athlete. Then she can deliver it to the brother directly. But it is another example of how difficult it is to support Afghans. Western Union's reason for the block was protecting me from fraud. I had lengthy conversations explaining who I was, who they were, and why I was sending money. It is not their business to know that much information. But once I explained, they still determined it was fraud and that I could not send my own money. It is not up to Western Union to do this. It has only been an issue in the transfers to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
When the girls departed, the tickets were through Lahore instead of Islamabad, so the escort I had arranged to make sure they got through airport security safely and without harassment was unavailable. Lahore is a 4-5 hour journey away. They had all the documentation they needed so it should have been no different than if you or I flew out of an airport. They had passports, visas, and exit permits with proof of payment. But instead, like previous times, the women were harassed, threatened, stalled to the point of almost missing their flight, and in this case videoed by the Pakistani authorities. They were in tears by the time they got through. The humiliation of Afghan women is unending and what they have endured in Afghanistan under the Taliban, and in Pakistan under the authorities there has been abusive, corrupt, and appalling. The groups ahead of them have experienced the same so it is not a case of one bad experience. It is systemic and targeting Afghans.
That's the most information I've ever shared about this piece of the puzzle. The girls have arrived in Paris last night. I had booked an apartment for the first week. They had two weeks to surrender themselves to the French authorities so they requested a week of housing before they did this. I also several people reaching out to friends and colleagues in Paris for support to pick up at the airport, buy groceries, and show the girls around public transportation, etc. Just hours before the flight, the French goverment contacted Nargis to let her know that the French governement/refugee agency would be meeting them at the airport and taking them to housing.
Hours before their flight. Understand that this is good news and incredibly shitty planning by anyone's standards. The three young women are flying into a major European capital and speak no English. They've been told to arrange their own housing, which we did. Then just hours before they fly they are told its all taken care of. This would have eliminated days of work and fundraising on our side and so much stress on their side.
So the good news is they have arrived, and they are safe. 'ish.
What we don't know is, where are they exactly now. What the housing conditions are? Housing or refugee camp? How long will they be staying there? What kind of support with the French government provide? These are the questions that we will get in due course. I'll be continuing to update on instagram if the sisters ask for support, but we've been able to raise some funds, and the extra funds raised will get transferred to them in Paris for them once they have let me know they are ready to collect.
They have agreed to send a photo once they are settled and I'll share that and for now - this is a photo they sent the day before they got ready to depart and said to share.
Salina, Nargis, and Benefsha from left to right.
Thank you. Tashakur. Merci.
Shannon
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Hi Everyone,
I wanted to update you now that we have reached the halfway point. I estimate that this is enough for two airplane tickets and one exit visa. Some of you have DM me with questions so I'm going to answer a few directly here.
The three young women have their French visas in hand. That means that they can leave immediately. Once we have the tickets purchased than we can coordinate their departure.
The exit visas are a penalty that must be paid because they overstayed their visa. This is something that I have dealt with many times in over the previous three years in the country they are hiding in. There is a literal equation with the government so it's no a surprise, and I know that it is an estimated $900 per girl.
I have reached out to two amazing women in country that are going to assist the girls on departure, hopefully arranging an escort all the way to security so that they are completely looked after all the way to the departure gates. They will send some photos as well.
STILL NEEDED: Support in France. I now have more information but am still working to fill in the gaps. They have been instructed to fly to Paris. They have been told to arrange their own housing for the first week. They will then meet with refugee immigration and they will get further information on support. I am working to get more information from the French Embassy as to what can be expected. I am also reaching out to French organizations that I know in Paris from previous work there in human rights, but we need to raise funds that will give the girls some support for basic food and housing and transportation. I can arrange as I know Paris well and as I am living in Scotland I might be able to meet the girls upon arrival to get them settled. Important to remember, we have a wheelchair basketball player, so housing needs to be wheelchair accessible which isn't always easy in Paris. They don't speak any English or French, so if we know any Dari/Farsi speakers in Paris we need to connect a community so they are not isolated.
More to come, but that's the update for now.
Many thanks to all of you for your support this far. So much gratitude to each and every one of you!
Shannon
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Jun 24
Jun 14