A FRANTIC couple whose toddler son is stranded in Afghanistan have made a desperate plea for help to bring him to safety.
Little Ahmad Sultan is being cared for by his grandparents who are unwell and in hiding from the Taliban.
His dad, Abdul Saboor, who escaped the Taliban when he was just 15 years old, has been trying to bring his son to the UK since he was born more than three years ago.
He has never seen or held Ahmad, and his partner, Habiba – who was forced to leave him behind when the Taliban took over Afghanistan – is now suffering from depression.
Breaking down in tears, Abdul said: “It wasn’t safe for her to take him, and the Home Office told me they could not help because a lot of people are on the waiting list to come here. Now I don’t know where they are as I haven’t heard from them for a month.”
Abdul told the Sunday National he had been forced to flee Afghanistan after his father, who was a driver for the US Government, was kidnapped by the Taliban.
He made his way to the UK and is now settled in Glasgow with leave to remain.
In 2019, with the help of the Red Cross, he managed to find members of his family who had escaped to Pakistan and met Habiba when he went to visit them. The couple got engaged to be married but Habiba was unable to travel back to Scotland with Abdul because of the length of time it took to secure permission from the UK Home Office.
Ahmad was born while Abdul was still trying to obtain the necessary documents and Habiba didn’t join him until just before the fall of Kabul in 2021.
At the time she was living in Mazar-i-Sharīf but escaped when the Taliban took it over, around a month before they entered Kabul.
Ahmad was left with his grandparents who managed to make their way to Pakistan but Abdul was still unable to get permission for his son to come to the UK.
Now, along with around 450,000 other Afghan nationals, they have been sent back to Afghanistan after the Pakistan government announced two months ago that it would deport all undocumented foreigners.
Having been held by the Taliban once before, Abdul’s father has again gone into hiding and it is not known where the family are.
“I’ve not heard from them in a month,” said Abdul. “I have tried to find them but they are hiding because the situation in Afghanistan is very bad and they are scared they will be killed. I have completely lost contact with all of them so if anyone knows where they are, let me know. I don’t know if I can get them out because I need to contact them first.”
The charity Glasgow Afghan United (GAU) has been trying to help the Saboors, along with other Afghan refugees in Scotland who have been separated from their loved ones.
“This family have been waiting for years to bring their son here,” said Abdul Bostani of GAU.
“They spoke to the Home Office but things have not progressed the way they wanted and now it has been too long. Ahmad should have been reunited with his mum by now.”
He added: “If the child of the Home Secretary James Cleverly was in his grandparents’ country for two years while he and his wife were here, how would he feel about it?
“It’s awful and the UK Government is saying refugees need to come here through legal routes but where are these legal routes?
“We are hearing from Afghan refugees from all over Scotland who are worried about their family members who are stuck in Afghanistan and are losing hope of being reunited.
“GAU is going to get in touch with the Home Office so that something can be done as soon as possible.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.
“We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK, with new arrivals going directly into settled accommodation where possible.”
