Tag Archives: Afghanistan

AFGHAN nationals now based in Ireland all came together in Dublin for a protest against the Taliban on Sunday. Among the protestors was Sayed Farid Sanai, the former TV news anchor who had to flee his home country and who is now based in Ennis. He was pleased with the protest and said that there had been a strong turnout from citizens of Afghanistan who are now based in Ireland. “It was a good protest, a lot of Afghan citizens came from different parts of Ireland, from Cork, from Limerick, from Waterford, from Galway, different parts of Ireland, Afghan people who’ve moved here from 2000 to now. They came to protest and they said that in the time they’ve been living in Ireland there’s never been this type of protest.” One of the major focuses of the protest was on the denial of women’s rights by the Taliban. “The main message of it was about women’s rights, that the Taliban …

WITH the Taliban extending their sphere of control almost immediately after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, there has been more criticism of the use of Shannon Airport by the US army. Sinn Féin Senator Paul Gavan said that Ireland has been complicit in the situation. “The history of Afghanistan has been one of tragedy for many decades now. “The US has left a legacy of chaos and carnage behind them, and successive Irish governments should reflect on how their betrayal of Irish neutrality facilitated this. “According to data from Harvard University and the Brown University Costs of War project, 172,000 people have died directly as a result of the war waged by US forces. This figure does not include thousands more who died as an indirect result of the conflict due to displacement and disease, or the hundreds of thousands more people forced to flee as refugees. “Many of those US forces made their way to that war via Shannon …

WHILE he has received refugee status and now lives in Ennis, former journalist Sayed Farid Sanai is very worried about his family left behind in an unstable Afghanistan, while he fears any progress made since the toppling of the Taliban 20 years ago could be very quickly undone. Two years ago he made it to Europe, but he knows something of the dread of the hundreds of people desparately seeking to make it out of Afghanistan this week. Farid’s son and wife are still in Afghanistan, and with an application having been made to the Irish Department of Justice, he is hopeful they will be allowed to come here soon. “Three months ago I applied for my family, I sent all of the details to the section in the Department of Justice, I’m still waiting for the process. They said it takes time, now it’s an emergency, but I don’t know how long it will take.” He says that he …

TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly both addressed Ennis District Court on Tuesday, claiming Ireland is complicit in atrocities through its decision to allow the US military to use Shannon Airport. They criticised the lack of inspections on aircraft being used by the US military, claiming that relying on diplomatic assurances from America is hopelessly inadequate. The two are accused of climbing a perimeter fence at Shannon and entering a part of the airport to which they were not permitted on July 22 of last year. During evidence on Tuesday, both freely acknowledged that they had entered the area in question but claimed they were left with no other option due to the lack of inspections being carried out by the authorities. They said they had been told to provide some concrete evidence to justify inspections and that their attempt to get to a US aircraft on the Shannon tarmac was a response. Mr Wallace also spoke about his experiences …