‘I can’t go home’: Afghans in Hong Kong watch and worry as Taliban sweeps into power
- Chaos of US withdrawal moves Hongkongers to learn more, raise funds for NGO helping in Afghanistan
- Afghans in Hong Kong don’t believe Islamist militia group has moderated its views, expect return of harsh restrictions for girls, women
Sitara left Afghanistan for Hong Kong on August 8, just a week before the Taliban overran the capital, Kabul.
The University of Hong Kong student had returned to the city for two months to see her family, still grieving over the death of her older brother last year in an attack when his car was stolen. He left a wife and two young daughters.
She was in her provincial hometown when fierce fighting broke out in July between the Afghan army and the Taliban.
As the sound of gunshots and rockets filled the air one day, her mother ushered everyone into the basement for safety, taking in their neighbour’s family as well.
“My whole family was scared,” recalls Sitara, who is in her early twenties. “Many of my friends said the Taliban were coming. We didn’t know what would happen.”
She got out of Afghanistan before the Taliban took control and thousands of people tried to flee the country. Her family remains there.
