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A group of Afghans were war weary after fleeing a 20-year conflict in their home country, yet despite their own traumas, they were horrified by a single photograph of four people, including two children, lying dead on the ground in Kyiv.
Now in Poland, they were spurred into action by helping Ukrainian refugees with whom they identify.
Sabur Dawod Zai, 27, is drawing on a wealth of experience after two decades of invasion, occupation, civil war and displacement.
“We had the same situation. I escaped from Afghanistan with a single bag and left behind everything: education, stability, career and families. The photo of four [victims] and other scenes of destruction should make everyone think like a human. That’s why I decided to help,” Mr Sabur told The National from his new home in the Polish capital city of Warsaw.
The image was taken by American photojournalist Lynsey Addario for The New York Times and shows a woman, a man and two children in Kyiv after being killed in a mortar attack.
We had the same situation. I escaped from Afghanistan with a single bag and left behind everything: education, stability, career and families.
Sabur Dawod Zai,
Afghan refugee in Poland
The American newspaper decided to publish the photo on its front page last week to illustrate the brutal reality of war.
In Warsaw, Mr Sabur is spending three to four hours on weekdays at the Zachodnia bus station – one of the main meeting points for long lines of exhausted refugees who escaped Ukraine while Russian troops attacked their country.
He and his Afghan teammates, who sought political asylum in Poland, knew from social media groups – organised over the past few weeks to support the refugees – what they needed most.
They communicated in English and used Google translate with others.
“We are preparing dinners at home, buying bus tickets and sim cards with internet data with our own money, providing clothes. We have met some refugees who have eaten only biscuits for many days,” the young Afghan man said.
He was granted asylum with his wife in October. They have not yet found jobs and are making ends meet through their savings, community support and a monthly allowance of about $280 for both of them.
Mr Sabur’s journey to freedom after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban last August helped him realise what it means for Ukrainian refugees to flee the Russian onslaughts by any means possible.
The former government employee escaped death when Taliban fighters hunted down Afghans like him who had worked with the previous government, the US and Nato. His last position was an adviser to the deputy interior minister.
“We were on the top list of people wanted by Taliban. In 2019, they bombed an event organised in [the eastern city of] Jalalabad. People were protesting against the rise of attacks on journalists and social activists. I was badly injured in my feet and had to undergo 14 operations before I was able to walk again. I lost eight of my friends in the shooting that followed the explosion of the improvised device and I faked death to escape Taliban militants.”
Mr Sabur left Kabul on August 23 thanks to a lifeline to the outside world provided by Polish member of parliament and former education minister Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska.
Mrs Kluzik-Rostkowska has helped 200 Afghans to leave the country and start new lives in Poland after the Taliban takeover. There are approximately 1,200 Afghans in Poland today, most housed in refugee camps.
She helped connect all decision makers involved from the ministries of interior and defence to the private sector and resettlement organisations. And she has an affinity with Afghanistan.
“I’m interested in the history of Afghanistan because it fought against the former Soviet Union, which established a communist rule in my country, although it has never been part of it. The Afghans led by late hero [Ahmad] Shah Masssoud fought the Soviets and resisted the Taliban too,” Mrs Kluzik-Rostkowska told The National.
Humanity should not be selective
Mrs Kluzik-Rostkowska says humanity should not be selective in treating refugees. Some western news organisations and politicians are being accused of double standards – calling for support for Ukrainian refugees after taking a tough line on the Syrian and Afghan refugee crises.
Everyone should know that there’s a thin line between peace and war. It could happen to any one of us
Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska,
Polish MP
“I was a journalist myself and covered several wars like the first and second wars between Russia and Chechnya as well as the Lebanese civil war. I know what the war is. It’s the same cruelty and suffering. Refugees are the same and anyone who escapes the horrors of war shouldn’t be treated on the basis of the colour of their skin, religion or race. Everyone should know that there’s a thin line between peace and war. It could happen to any one of us,” she said.
“But one has to put in mind that there’s a political aspect of this as well, which is the right-wing governments in some European countries. I myself am on the opposition side in my country. Also, Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and its borders are EU borders.”
The invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing flow of refugees into Poland and other neighbouring countries has triggered disbelief among some reporters that this could happen to “civilised people with blonde hair and blue eyes” and who look like “any European family that you would live next door to”.
Such comments were widely condemned on social media as racist.
‘We can feel their pain’
Nearly 84 million people around the world have been displaced from their homes because of war, conflict or persecution since 2000, according to UNHCR. Syrians account for about 11 million of them.
My Afghan colleagues and I tell them we are equal in pain and understand you. We are here to help you
Muneezzha Kakar,
Afghan refugee in Poland
The figure does not include the Ukrainian refugees. But since the start of the Russian assault in February, more than three million Ukrainians – and counting – have fled their country with nearly two million pouring into neighbouring Poland and hundreds of thousands going to other nearby countries.
While xenophobia and racism are not new topics, the frank discussion on the subject caused by the Ukraine crisis startled Muneezzha Kakar, an Afghan woman who sought refuge in Poland with the help of Mrs Kluzik-Rostkowska and who now works with Mr Sabur.
“We can feel their pain,” she told The National. “Like us, they are starting from zero. It isn’t easy. My Afghan colleagues and I tell them we are equal in pain and understand you. We are here to help you.”
Ms Kakar, 29, was a human resources officer with international organisations that operated in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover. She was also a lecturer at the private Mashal University in Kabul.
She fled Kabul with her mother a few months before the Taliban takeover. They first landed in Turkey and then flew to Warsaw last December. She is grateful to Poland because it acted swiftly to protect them, although her name was on the evacuation list for the UK, a country she once worked passionately with on female empowerment projects in Afghanistan.
“The Polish people, especially the women, are really kind and supportive. When we arrived, they used to bring us groceries and medicines even without asking. They also speak English very well. Even when we wanted to go somewhere to finalise our papers, Mrs Kluzik-Rostkowska was always there for us, but also there are Facebook groups that help refugees and offer us taxis for free. They are really helpful,” she said.
The path to a peaceful life seems at last to be clear.
“For my mental health, I no longer live with the fear of being kidnapped, murdered or bombed by Taliban. All these fears accompanied me every single day in Afghanistan. But not any more.”
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The Lowdown
Us
Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseqph, Evan Alex and Elisabeth Moss
Rating: 4/5
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
The Porpoise
By Mark Haddon
(Penguin Random House)
Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 571bhp
Torque: 650Nm
Price: Dh431,800
Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 455bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: from Dh431,800
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Scoreline
Bournemouth 2
Wilson 70', Ibe 74'
Arsenal 1
Bellerin 52'
THE LOWDOWN
Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
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