It is nearly 11 months since the UK launched its scheme to help vulnerable Afghans come to the UK. But MPs and charities say the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) has been too slow to get up and running and is leaving those in the most danger stuck in Afghanistan.
“Every minute, every moment is frightening. We are scared for our own safety,” says Ghazal.
Because of her previous job as a journalist and lecturer and as an advocate for women’s rights, Ghazal says the Taliban have threatened her.
The BBC is not using her real name as she fears reprisals from the hardline Islamist group, which seized power in the summer of 2021.
She applied to the UK through the ACRS in June and received a reference number but has not heard anything else since then.
As she is still in Afghanistan, she is not eligible for the first year of the scheme, when only three specific at-risk groups who remain in the country are being considered.
Meanwhile, Ghazal is moving between the houses of friends and relatives with her sister, so she cannot be found.
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Since the Taliban takeover, women’s rights have been curtailed, with women barred from most jobs outside the home, secondary education and travelling longer distances without a male guardian.
Ghazal is unmarried, and as she cannot do her old job, she is struggling financially, with her savings now gone.
“I had a huge reputation, a successful career and respect. Financially, I was well off. I had my dream job… but all of a sudden jumping down from there to someone who doesn’t even have an identity is very painful and stressful,” she tells the BBC, speaking through a translator.
Asked what she thought would happen to her and her sister if they stayed in Afghanistan, Ghazal says: “Probably we will end our life, someone will kill us, or we will have a heart attack.”
“We have no hope for our future,” she adds.
