A Scottish taxi driver who has fought for three years to bring his family to safety from Afghanistan fears they will be forced back into Taliban-controlled land.
Three years to the day that a suicide bomb almost killed Jan Mohammad Ahmadzai’s family, they have been granted UK visas.
Jan has lived and worked in Scotland for 19 years and was visiting his heavily pregnant wife and family when the coup took place in August 2021.
Thousands of Afghans fled their homes as the Taliban imposed a brutal, repressive government, all but eliminating women’s rights and conducting public executions.
SuppliedWith his British passport, the father-of-five tried to get them all safely evacuated during the Operation Pitting rescue mission but they did not make it.
While they joined crowds around Kabul Airport they were caught up in the terrifying suicide bomb that killed at least 95 people and wounded 150 others.
In the chaos, they lost their passports and other documents.
SuppliedJan’s wife Wakeela had given birth to their youngest child just days before the bombing.
Fearing the Taliban’s rise to power and unable to secure his family’s safe passage through the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme, Jan helped his wife and children flee into neighbouring Pakistan where they have sheltered illegally for three years.
Three years after the Taliban Kabul airport attack on August 26, visas were issued and approval granted for the family to come to the UK.
But Jan fears there is no safe route to bring them with him to Glasgow.
“There’s a gap between me and my kids hugging each other, coming with me and landing here in Glasgow, to live with me – but I’m working on it”
Jan Mohammad Ahmadzai
“As we entered Pakistan in November 2021 illegally, we can’t leave Pakistan legally now,” he told STV News.
“We need to fly back from Afghanistan airspace.
“The clock is ticking.
“They’ve only got 90 days on their UK visa entry clearances, so I need to get them here as soon as possible before something else happens.”
On Wednesday, Pakistani security forces detained and deported dozens of Afghans who were living in the country illegally after a government-set deadline for them to leave expired.
Despite the joy and relief Jan and his family feel about finally being granted the right to come and live in the UK, the prospect of first having to return to the land they fled is “another trouble ahead”.
Jan wants assurance his family will have safe passage to Scotland and has asked the UK Government to speak with the Pakistani authorities.
SuppliedThe cab driver’s suitcase is packed and he says he is working day and night to pay for the flights for his loved ones.
Friends and family have helped him with fees and legal costs that so far total around £20,000.
Jan’s youngest son is now three. Ishaq was only five days old when the family travelled to Kabul Airport, in the days after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. Because he was born after Jan was granted British citizenship, he has a British passport.
“I have had to keep positive, and my children have given me strength. When we are in contact, I’ve been telling them good things.
Supplied“I say we are going to play cricket and soccer here and when they smile at me, it is a good thing. All these things just keep us going. It’s a hope.
“There’s a gap between me and my kids hugging each other, coming with me and landing here in Glasgow, to live with me – but I’m working on it.”
Jan said he and his family were “over the moon” when they heard they had finally been granted visas after a three-year battle.
He added: “It was unbelievable because I was just dreaming for that e-mail. Every day that was my job for months and months.
“I’d wake up and the first thing I would do was check my phone, it used to be a stressful morning for me.
“When I told the kids, they were just so happy and jumping. They were saying we can make it and come to Glasgow.”
STV News has contacted the UK Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment.
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