Over 250 Afghan Sikhs, Hindus want safe passage to West, not India

More than 250 Afghans belonging to a minority communities of Sikh and Hindu who have connections in India have been holed up in a Sikh shrine just seven km from the international airport in Kabul and are desperately awaiting their evacuation to a Western nationFor them India is not the preferred destination as a refugee The reason they believe it took years and years to procure the Indian citizenship Also there is too much red tapism while procuring government documents like a passport and an Aadhaar cardThey are praying to enter a Western nation as a refugee where they are hoping to live a dignified life They comprise dozens of women and childrenWe understand their urgency at this point in time Our volunteers are working with a team of exmilitary contractors and the US State Department to help 250270 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus find their way safely to the international airport in Kabul USbased global humanitarian nonprofit organization United Sikhs International Humanitarian Aid Director Gurvinder Singh told IANS over phoneAlso read Govt committed to full evacuation of Indians from Afghanistan JaishankarHe said many of them took refuge in the Karte Parwan gurdwara after the country fell into the hands of the Taliban Most of them belong to middleclass families and they were doing smalltime business in Kabul Even the Taliban assured them that they wont be harmed and they will play a crucial role in the recovery of wartorn Afghanistan he said But all of them were desperately awaiting their evacuation from the country well ahead of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 31 After that there might be potential attacks by Islamic State terror group he saidWe are providing them emergency humanitarian aid besides international protection and intervention for the families This is vital for their secure and permanent resettlement We are on the job to evacuate them by August 31 said an optimistic Gurvinder Singh 38 who is based in Texas They can be evacuated either to Canada or the US or the UK or Australia or New Zealand We are in constant touch with all these countries Our first priority is to ensure safe passage to them from the gurdwara to the airport that is just seven km away he saidA day before martyrdom attack near Kabuls international airport killing 13 US service members and dozens of Afghans on August 27 he said all the Sikh and Hindu families were boarded in nine minivans and were on the way to the north gate of the airport which is under the control of the American forces Their vehicles were attacked by some terror groups ahead of the airport and they narrowly escaped For 18long hours they remained stranded in the vehicles and failed to enter the airportHe said their teams still remain in constant contact with the community in Kabul as another attempt is made before the August 31 deadline for evacuation flights from Afghanistan Gurvinder Singh said they have set up an Afghan Helpdesk in New Delhi to reach out the displaced Since the terror attack on March 25 2020 in Gurdwara Har Rai in Kabul the United Sikhs ongoing relief work for Afghan Sikhs was enhanced and moved forward with urgencyFor decades the Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan have been victims of discrimination terror violence and persecution at the hands of extremists The proof is in the mass exodus of a proud community that once numbered over 100000 to now being dwindled to less than 700 said the humanitarian organizationAny Afghan citizen wishing to escape persecution must obtain a passport To facilitate this resettlement the United Sikhs has been requested by those on the ground as well as by multiple Afghan Sikh advocates to undertake the responsibility of passports for 356 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus in 2020 In 2018 after the Jalalabad bombing that left 12 Sikh leaders dead the global advocacy presented before the 39th session of the Human Rights Council the plight of the Hindus and Sikhs in AfghanistanIn 2019 the Permanent Missions to the UN were urged to address the continuing threats to the safety of the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus Later in 2019 a petition was filed in the Canadian Parliament seeking safe passageThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever