Family escapes Afghanistan, thanks to the help of an Edmonton-area man
CBC
An Afghan family has successfully made it out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with the help of an Edmonton-area man, but the journey is far from over.
Naveed Safi, with his wife and three children, made the overland crossing last week from Kabul to Islamabad, Pakistan, an arduous journey of about 500 kilometres that included multiple Taliban checkpoints.
"You actually feel like someone is standing on the road and wants to kill you," Safi said, describing the journey that often left his family in tears.
Safi and his family are now residing in an Islamabad safehouse. They feel more secure, he said during a Monday interview, but there is still the fear that even in Pakistan they are not completely safe.
They are in the process of applying for asylum in the U.S. and Canada.
"I don't know how long we'll be here because the process of Canada and government are very slow," Safi said.
"And I don't know what will happen to us."
In August, the family were witness to the deadly chaos at the Kabul airport as they waited to board a plane. Those plans fell through and for months they went into hiding, fearing for their lives.
Safi is a human rights lawyer who previously worked with an non-government organization to advocate for women and children. He said his wife, Mashala — a teacher at a school that taught girls — had already been the target of violence earlier this year when a member of the Taliban threw boiling water on her face as she was leaving the school.
Death threats followed, Saif said.
The family was able to get out of the country thanks to the assistance of Spencer Sekyer, a recently retired teacher who worked for Elk Island Public Schools for more than 25 years.
Sekyer met Naveed and Mashala Safi during his summer break in 2010 when he was teaching at the Kabul school where they worked.
He travelled to the country earlier this month to help arrange a way out. At one point, Sekyer said, he was pulled out of a car at gunpoint.
Seyker used a network of contacts, including those with the U.S. State Department, to get the Safi family out of the country.
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