A group of Afghan journalists and media workers, who fled to Iran in hope of being resettled to a western country, complain that they are now stranded in Iran and the international organizations who promised them the resettlement have forgotten them.
“There are more than 80 Afghan journalists and media workers left in limbo here in Iran,” said Maqbool Noori, a female Afghan journalist who had attended the in-door protest rally in Tehran.
They complained that some media organizations who had pledged to resettle them from Iran have yet to fulfil their promises, calling on the international media advocates, including the Reporters without Border (RSF) and the National Union of Journalists (SNJ), to expedite their resettlement from Iran.
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 forced hundreds of Afghan journalists and those working in the country’s once vibrant media organisations to flee to Iran and Pakistan, with some resettled in the West and many living in limbo waiting to have their applications processed.
Afghan journalists left in Pakistan have also staged several protests asking international media advocacy groups and organizations to help them be resettled in a safe country.
Almost two weeks earlier, Afghan journalist, Sami Jahesh, put up one of his kidneys for sale in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, complaining of the dire economic situation he was facing while waiting for resettlement to a western country.
