How this team College Students Planned the Escape of an Afghanistan Women
You are more than you think you can do
Last month, I shared with you that my research trip to Washington DC was dedicated to Afsana, and many others trying to survive under the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. In this post, I want to share the story of a group of college students in Chile who helped a girl escape Afghanistan.
Meet Joaquin
Joaquin is a regular 27-year-old college student in Chile. He is active in many international student organizations from his university, and being a partof Babson Collaborative Student Network (BCSN) he met many students from all around the world. Personally, that is also where I met him and became friends.
In Afghanistan, the immigration process was very complicated and involved several risks to safety. And since Chile is a big country with a relatively small population, Chile was a potential destination that welcome Afghanistan women specifically to immigration and resettlement.
(Because of potential safety issues with cyber security for the girl’s name, I will be using “Jules” when referring to the Afghanistan girl mentioned)
Plan A or Plan B?
To bring Jules to Chile, Joaquin could take two approaches:
The first approach would involve Joaquin finding a job for Jules in Chile and preparing her for the workforce. Chile’s infrastructure has work opportunities for its homeless population and the country endorses and respects people that work hard.
However, this framework isn’t ready for many refugees. To bring Jules to the country, Joaquin would have to show money and provide job security and background information to the immigration services department. It was too much to deliver; therefore, Joaquin could not take this route.
The second approach, which Joaquin was eventually able to leverage, used a particular law in Chile that allows citizens to grant refugee status to anyone they are personal to them. This is a very understated law and not a lot of people actually know about it.
To understand more, Joaquin consulted The Foreign department of Chile and learned about a policy that helps women whose lives are endangered. This is open only to women because Chile is pro-women and has substantial viewpoints on human rights.
With the help of the government and the department head, Joaquin formulated a plan to help rescue Jules. The Foreign Department of Chile negotiated with the government of Iran to grant Jules and her boyfriend a temporary visa for them to pass by Iran in order to take a flight in transit to their final destination — Chile.
What about the Money?
It was a very stressful process for Joaquin because it was his responsibility to take care of her. And Joaquin personally mentioned that without the Chilean government’s support, this process would not even have a slight chance of working out.
The government was able to help, but this process required Joaquin to personally take care of all of the expense that was tied to Jule’s escape. Being a college student himself, Joaquin does not have any money that would be close to enough to fund this venture.
And so, Joaquin turned to contact NGOs in Chile with the mission to help Afghanistan. The NGO ultimately agreed to support the funds, but Joaquin needs to negotiate and prove that the risk of bringing Jules to Chile by their plan is low. At this point, because of the hard deadline when US troops are going to be pulled out from Afghanistan. Jules and her boyfriend had already started traveling to the border of Afghanistan, towards Iran.
If anything were to happen to Jules in Iran, Joaquin wouldn’t be able to assist.
Voyage to Freedom
Due to the complexities of the immigration process, and facing many possibilities of getting deported back to Afghanistan, Jules has to transfer about 6 times in order to avoid a no-fly zone and US territories. The stakes were high.
And fortunately, after a day of flying, they made it, but that is not the end of the story.
When Jules and her boyfriend finally landed in Chile, they had to sit for an interview that lasted 12 hours before they are safe to be released.
In Chile
Joaquin also needs to arrange housing and a job for Jules to take on when she arrives, and while searching options desperately, Joaquin came across a Chilean-based startup on LinkedIn, that is giving back to their communities after celebrating a good financial year.
“Giving Back” is a big cultural standard for people in Chile. Since the country is subject to frequent earthquakes and tsunamis, the community in Chile embodies “work hard and give back”, and because of this, Joaquin was able to arrange 1 full year of full housing by the real estate start up that was giving back to the community.
Reflecting on this experience, Joaquin shared that there are global standards on the issue, with people helping Ukraine more since it is in the news. But, at the same time, the refugee crisis of Afghanistan is forgotten and discriminated against. Poland decline refugees of middle eastern backgrounds but opened its borders to Ukrainian refugees.
BCSN Chile Ambassadors
Nicolás Castellón
Magdalena Irribarren
Felipe Sanzana
Joaquín González
