Four months after Albania accepted thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban, about 2,000 people lived in hotels on the country’s Adriatic coast. Although they are always grateful for the kindness of the host, the uncertainty about the future is causing problems.
When the bomb exploded around them and was airlifted out of Kabul, many refugees, including activists, academics, NGO staff and journalists, were told that they would stay in Albania for “a few days” before heading to the United States. But the delays of the US authorities and the reported lack of communication mean that many people are now living in uncertain situations.
“Someone told me that we will stay in Albania for a few days and then go to Germany and the United States. It has been four months now. We don’t know how long it will take to get our visa. We didn’t even get the case number,” in Albania Said Abdul, a young scholar interviewed by EURACTIV in the northern city of Shengjin.
“Albanians are too kind. He added that if we have to stay here for another two months or two years, I don’t mind, but I don’t know how difficult it is.
Abdul said that he and his wife who was sitting next to him wiping their tears did not know how long they would stay. The US State Department has not yet released the case number or any timetable to them. He explained that this caused both of them to suffer from depression because they did not know when their lives could “start over”.
“The other day, I was very frustrated, I checked the flight back to Kabul. That’s how desperate I was,” he said. Abdul carefully explained that he was very grateful for the opportunity given to him, but insisted that it is unfair to leave people in a state of uncertainty, not knowing when they can start studying, working and living again.
“It’s just a date, no matter how far away, it will help us to continue.”
Lena, 24, feels the same way. She evacuated from Kabul and was forced to leave her parents and other family members. As an agricultural scholar who dreams of pursuing a doctorate degree, she is worried that she will not be able to help the people who are still in Kabul.
“I need to find a job so that I can send money home to them. I have been looking for customer service online, and so on. They have almost no money, and the cost of living is increasing. My father looks for work every day. But women cannot work or study,” she explained.
As for her visa, Lina was told that she would stay in Albania for two to three days before heading to the United States. Four months later, she has not received the case number, and she does not know when to leave.
“Someone told me that I needed to do biometrics, but they said that the U.S. Embassy did not have the correct equipment here. I was told that I just had to wait. I don’t know what to think. There was no communication,” she said frustrated.
Like Abdul, she likes Albania and appreciates the hospitality here. In addition to studying and job hunting, Lina also started volunteering as an assistant to an English teacher. She helps in class several times a week.
She said: “In all these uncertainties, it gives me a sense of mission. It keeps me busy and makes me forget what happened and waiting.”
Other women in the Shengjin community have taken similar measures to keep themselves busy and active.
Najiba is a former UN staff member with five children and runs a sewing team with 26 other women. They rely on donated fabrics and materials, spend time discussing their problems together, unleash their creativity, and sew necessities for the surrounding families.
“It’s like a community. We get together to share our problems, our wounds, and create these things,” she said, proudly showing me the cleverly woven shawls, hats and pullovers.
“We have lost everything. Our houses, jobs, savings, property, cars, our lives… My daughter had to stop her degree; she is learning to be an engineer, our lives, we have lost everything. You I can’t imagine that kind of trauma,” she said, the emotion in her voice obvious.
“So, when my thoughts are occupied by things that happen to us, because of this trauma, I knit…I knit, and it keeps my thoughts away from these things,” she said.
Her daughter served saffron tea; Najiba, the staple food of Afghanistan, assured me that she handed me a pink waffle knitted scarf as a gift to my daughter.
Unlike Abdul and Lena, Najiba and her family were told that they would travel to Canada in mid-January, although they warned that even this is not certain.
“Now, our lives are suspended and it takes time to start again. I just want to send my children to school and start our lives again,” she said.
Khadija and Najiba run the sewing team together and greet me with big smiles and hugs.
“I love Albania; I like to live with her; if I have the opportunity to find a good job, I want to live here forever,” she explained. As many other refugees have said, Albania cannot be achieved due to low wages, which prevents them from feeding their families who are still in Afghanistan.
She smiled and spoke quickly, talking passionately about her participation in the sewing group.
“It makes me happy to get together to talk about our problems, hopes and future. It makes me forget all the terrible things that happened and what we left behind,” she explained, adding that one day she Hope to organize an exhibition of all the handicrafts they made.
“But one day, I hope, I hope I can return to my country,” she said, “but I don’t know if this will happen.”
Today I interviewed Afghan women on location to learn about the hobbies they developed to get rid of trauma. Photos posted at their insistence💗 pic.twitter.com/IQMyef6v1j
— Alice Taylor (@Aliceinalbania) December 24, 2021
