By Rashida Yosufzai
In their home in Sydney’s suburbs, Nawid Cina and Mahboba Rawi sit anxiously waiting for news of the children, widows and staff members under their care.
The group were escaping Afghanistan on a bus through the mountains and a land border crossing to Pakistan.
The mother and son, thousands of kilometres away in Australia, were on their couch listening to people on the ground describe what was going on through a phone call.
“The Taliban is here fighting; the situation is not okay,” the voice on the other end replied.
Nawid Cina, centre, with some of the children from the Mahboba’s Promise orphanage in Afghanistan. Credit: Supplied
At the border, security hangs in the delicate and precarious balance between Taliban fighters, Pakistan guards and crowds of desperate and hopeful people.
This route has been the main way out for refugees hoping to make their way to Australia since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021.
An August 2021 photo of a Pakistani paramilitary soldier, right, and Taliban fighters standing guard on their respective sides at a border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Source: AP / Muhammad Sajjad/AP
“The border was terrifying. It was chaotic. No safety could be guaranteed,” Mr Cina tells SBS News.
“We were terrified for their lives, we were terrified that they wouldn’t make it through, we were terrified of incarceration.”
Ms Rawi and Mr Cina had already got a small group of orphans from their Afghan orphanages to Australia in December 2021 through the same method.
But this was a huge undertaking – rescuing the almost 100 widows, vulnerable children including orphans, and some staff members who were left behind.
“Danger was there from the beginning until the end,” Mr Cina says.
How a ‘one in a million’ chance was realised
Mr Cina had been pleading for months for help from Australian authorities to rescue almost 100 vulnerable people left behind in the Mahboba’s Promise orphanages in Afghanistan, to no avail.
He’d appeared before Senate hearings, he’d made phone calls to senior officials. Nothing was working.
It wasn’t until he took the daring decision to travel to Afghanistan, alone, that things finally came together.
Nawid Cina in Afghanistan in March 2022. Mr Cina says he had no choice but to visit the country to assess the safety of the children under the care of Mahboba’s Promise charity. Credit: Supplied
The children at the orphanages had been segregated based on their sex.
“The last time I was (there), you couldn’t hear anything but the laughter of kids. Now it’s silent,” he said.
“There was a lot of hope, a lot of positivity. Now it’s just about survival.”
Around that time, the United Nations was warning more than a million Afghan children would die of malnutrition without aid.
Nawid Cina in Afghanistan in March 2022. Mr Cina says he had no choice but to visit the country to assess the safety of the children under the care of Mahboba’s Promise charity. Credit: Supplied
The children at the orphanages had been segregated based on their sex.
“The last time I was (there), you couldn’t hear anything but the laughter of kids. Now it’s silent,” he said.
“There was a lot of hope, a lot of positivity. Now it’s just about survival.”
Around that time, the United Nations was warning more than a million Afghan children would die of malnutrition without aid.
Nawid Cina and some of the rescued Afghan children at home in Sydney. Credit: ABC
Ms Dale said it was difficult coordinating the group’s movements from so far away.
“We were receiving calls from several people on either side of the border telling us when to cross, when not to cross, it’s safe to come, now, it’s not safe to come,” she said.
“There was an immense personal weight that we all really individually felt when speaking with people crossing the border. And I must say that every single individual as they crossed was such an immense sense of relief.”
The entire journey has been documented in an episode of Australian Story which will air on the ABC on Monday night.
‘Their lives were on my shoulders’
Most of the group finally arrived in Australia in the latter part of 2022.
Mr Cina says the children were faring well and receiving great care in their resettlement journey.
“They’re safe. Most important thing is, they’re safe.”
He said the weight of responsibility was tough to bear over the 18 months.
Nawid Cina meeting vulnerable women and children in Afghanistan. Credit: Mahboba’s Promise
“I felt that their lives were on my shoulders. That’s how I felt every day, it was excruciating.”
The 26-year-old is still coming to grips with the journey and how difficult it was.
“The only times it hits me is when I come and I see the children together. And I’m like, ‘I saw you in the mountains six months ago. What are you doing here? How did this happen?’”
Mr Cina says he owes a debt of gratitude to the Australian government – both Coalition and Labor – who secured help throughout the way.
“It was (then) minister (Alex) Hawke who provided these emergency visas, and we cannot be more grateful towards him.
“And it was the Albanese government that got us the (Pakistan visa) amnesty.
“It was me, my mum and Sarah driving it, but there were so many other people that came in, in intense moments.
“There was an incredible amount of goodwill that went towards us. People care about Afghanistan.”
Courtesy: SBS
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Coverpage’s editorial stance
