HELP AFGHAN FAMILY BEING TARGETED BY TAILIBAN

Hi, my name is Vanessa and I'm from Australia. I have a friend in Afghanistan whom I met while travelling and have come to know very well in our cultural exchanges. His family is being targeted by the Taliban. I can't give you his real name for the sake of his safety, so let's call him Sam. Multiple of his family members has worked with the previous government, and one of his brothers has had assassination attempts on him (by the Taliban) in the past year before the previous government fell.

 

Now that the previous government is gone, the Taliban is hunting down his brother and the entire family is in danger. In the last few weeks, the Taliban has gone around knocking on their neighbour's doors searching for his brother. Luckily they have a good neighbour who hasn't sold them out. However, it is a matter of time before the Taliban discovers his family's home. They are unable to leave their house to live in a safer location because the family does not have much money. As multiple of their family members are at risk of being killed on sight by the Taliban, there is limited ability for the family to go out and earn money for food. He has a few younger siblings who are unable to go out to support the family, and a few of them are girls and have also been unable to go to school due to the Taliban's rules. Sadly, there is no safe forseeable future in Afghanistan for the family at the moment.

 

Sam and I are trying to work on a plan to get him out of the country, and get to a safe place. Our plan is initially to get him and his brother who has had attempts on his life out first before trying to get the rest of the family out safely. To do so, we would need roughly $10,000 - 18,000 initially, but we will likely need more money later down the track to help the entire family reach safety.

How money raised through Go-Fund-Me will be used:
- Transport/ visa costs to get out of Afghanistan, to Pakistan
- Humanitarian visa cost 
- Sponsorship costs (for Canada, & the US if they get accepted)
- Plane tickets from Pakistan to other secondary countries (where refugees can stay temporarily) in between their humanitarian visa approvals. 
- Plane ticket to a safe country they are looking to stay long term.
- Additional visa requirements on top of initial humanitarian visa
- Any remaining money will be put towards evacuating the rest of the family.

How the money will be delivered:
- Western Union
- Money Gram

 

For more information on Sam's story and how I met him, read more here:
https://happy-go-nessa.com/sams-story-a-young-man-from-afghanistan/