Photo: AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo
Women from a celebrated Afghanistan robotics team and from the national soccer squad were among those successfully evacuated to other countries this week in the wake of theTaliban takeover.
On Tuesday, five members of the robotics team reached Mexico City on a commercial flight, according to theAssociated PressandCNN. The group, which also included one of the young women’s partners, had traveled through six countries to reach their destination.
“Welcome to your home,” Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said upon their arrival, adding that the country will provide “whatever legal status they consider best” at this time.
AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo
At a press conference, team member Fatemah Qaderyan reportedly said Mexico saved their lives.
“From now on forward we will have opportunities for many more achievements in our lives and thus be part of the fight for a better life,” Qaderyan said, per CNN. “Although we are far from our homes, we will always be united and thanks to your help we will achieve it.”
The all-female robotics team has won international awards for its inventions and worked on creating low-cost ventilators from used car parts to help fightCOVID-19on the front lines last year.
Other members of the team have found refuge in Qatar following the collapse of the Afghanistan government, according to CNN.
Also on Tuesday, athletes from Afghanistan’s women’s soccer team flew from Kabul to Australia,The Washington Postreported. The players, sports officials and their family members were among 75 people flown to safety.
Haley Carter, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer who also previously served as an assistant coach of the national soccer team, described the escape as “nothing short of a miracle.”
AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty
“We’re hoping to get as many as we can out over the next couple of days. The window is obviously closing,” she told thePost.“Time is of the essence.”
The Afghanistan women’s national soccer team was created in 2007 — six years after the Taliban lost power during the U.S. invasion — with the goal of empowering girls and women through sports, former team captain Khalida Popal told the paper.
From its inception, however, the women’s team declared the Taliban to be its enemy, making members vulnerable following the insurgents' takeover.
PresidentJoe Bidenhas said the U.S. is not planning to stay beyond the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline but is focused, in the final days, on ensuringAmericans and alliescan leave the country.
The U.S. continues to evacuate tens of thousands from the country, after facing criticism over how the withdrawal unfolded. But Taliban checkpoints surrounding the Kabul airport have made it difficult for some Afghans to flee,with peoplereportedly beatenas they try and pass through.
If you would like to support those in need during the upheaval in Afghanistan, consider:
- Donating toUNICEFto aid Afghans in the country or* Donating to theInternational Refugee Assistance Projectto help those fleeing.
source: people.com
