“Sarah" from Afghanistan

  

“Here, I have a voice” 

  

Three years ago, Sarah arrived in the UK under a scheme for those who had worked with the British government in Afghanistan. Her father, a lawyer, had the connections to secure a path to safety, but leaving was not simple. 

  

She had been a law student at Kabul University, thriving in an environment where her future seemed limitless. “Life was extremely normal before the Taliban,” she recalls. But in August 2021, Kabul fell in a single day. “It was chaos. The first night, we had no electricity. The city felt dead.” Her family locked themselves inside, fearful of being exposed to the new regime. With no future left, they fled to Pakistan at midnight, passing through Taliban checkpoints on the way. They waited there for 45 days before finally being able to travel to the UK. 

  

Now in the UK, Sarah sees the stark contrast between her new home and the one that  she left behind. “Here, I have a voice, no matter my gender or race,” she says. Currently, she works as an asylum support worker, helping refugees settle into Slough. One of her most meaningful cases involved securing a divorce for a woman forced into an abusive marriage. “I relate to the women I help. In Afghanistan, you can’t even say you’re experiencing abuse — you’ll be blamed by society for complaining.” 

  

Despite having to restart her education from scratch, Sarah is determined to become a lawyer, like her father and brother. She also dreams of opening a business supporting Afghan women through selling their handmade clothing.  

  

Sarah concluded by firmly saying “If I could go back to pre-Taliban Afghanistan, I would.” But for now, she is building a future where she is seen, heard, and valued.