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Fatima Abdullah was on a break from her medical career when the coronavirus pandemic hit Ireland in March 2020. A qualified doctor, Abdullah moved to Ireland after her husband, Abdullah Afghan, who is also a doctor, secured a job in Co Mayo in 2014. She wanted to continue her training in obstetrics and gynaecology but needed time to care for her two small children. However, when the HSE launched the Be on Call for Ireland campaign in response to health crisis, Abdullah changed her mind.

I was a doctor sitting at home, and a doctors job is to help people. I thought this is the time they need me. Of course I had no idea then things would get so bad.

Her husband Afghan recalls how friends tried to discourage his wife from signing up. They said we should wait for things to settle before she went back to work. But we said, No, this is life and death and we owe the Irish people. Weve settled here, theyve given us opportunities. We have a very good life with our kids and its our time to pay back to Ireland. Were proud that we did it. It also made us feel like we really belong to this society.

Originally from Afghanistan, both Afghan and Abdullah grew up in Pakistan after their families fled their home country. Afghan, whose family comes from the southeastern city of Khost, was born en route to Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

Things were extremely difficult. My parents never could have imagined Id end up as a doctor. At that time all they were thinking about was staying safe. What they did for me was beyond imagination. They were not educated; they had to do manual labour for us to go to school.

Abdullah, who is from the Afghan capital of Kabul, was two years old when her parents emigrated. The situation in our country was so dangerous, our families could not think of staying there. They moved to save our lives.

The couple met in medical school shortly before Afghans graduation and were married soon after. In 2014, he was offered a job in Ireland while Abdullah, who was still completing her studies, visited during her three months off college where she would study before returning to Pakistan. In October 2015, their son Azlaan was born. To be honest it was not a planned pregnancy and I was supposed to go back to Pakistan for my exams. I had a really traumatic delivery because he was a big baby, I dont think Ill ever forget it. I found it really hard being a young mother here with no family support.

When Azlaan was nearly a month old, the couple travelled to Dublin to secure a visa for Abdullah and her baby to travel to Pakistan so she could complete her medical exams. We had to drive from Castlebar at 3am to get into the queue, remembers Afghan. There was no online system then; you had to queue outside to get the visa, and if you were later than 7am you could be turned back. But the immigration officers were extremely helpful and supportive. Azlaan was crying non-stop, and he processed our visa within minutes.

Abdullah stayed in Pakistan for five months to finish her studies before returning to Ireland with Azlaan, and in 2018, their daughter Anaya was born. Abdullah had applied for her sister, who lives in the United States, to visit and help care for the newborn but the visa request was rejected.

She had her two own kids in the States and we just wanted her to come and help us for three months. But because she was Afghan she couldnt get it. I had really bad postnatal depression after Anaya was born. Being alone and having no support, everything was so hard.

Similarly, Afghan found applying for visas to travel to the United Kingdom for training courses or to visit family in Germany extremely difficult. It was rejected so many times. Once I had to travel to Birmingham for an exam, and I was stopped by immigration for an hour and a half. Initially it felt terrifying, what were they suspecting me of?

Now I know this is going to happen and that I will be stopped and interrogated for hours every time I travel to mainland UK. Because of our passport, travel is hard.

Having worked the long hours of emergency medicine in Irish hospitals, Afghan decided to become a general practitioner so his wife could resume her training and he could help more at home.

However, he discovered it was extremely difficult for non-EU doctors to qualify for Irelands GP training programme, which allocates places through a preference system starting with Irish citizens, followed by Europeans.

He also applied through the NHS and was offered a position in Craigavon in Co Armagh. Afghan now drives 1 hours twice a day to and from his home in Bettystown, Co Meath, which the couple bought in 2019, to his job in Northern Ireland. The commute is long but its important for my career progression and once its completed I can work in Ireland as a GP.

Abdullah has been working in the emergency department of Our Ladys Hospital in Navan since September of last year and regularly cares for patients with Covid-19.

In November, both Abdullah and Afghan contracted the virus. We got very sick and were checking our oxygen saturation all the time, he says. Our temperatures were reaching almost 40 degrees, we were praying that we didnt deteriorate.

I kept thinking, what will happen to the children if we both have to go to hospital, adds his wife. We didnt have any support around us. That was really hard.

The couple have recently added their voices to the campaign calling for applications for Irish citizenships from migrant healthcare workers to be fast-tracked. Afghan, who applied in November 2019, says the wait has had a major impact on the family.

After working here for almost seven years and responding to the Call for Ireland the only thing we are asking is for our naturalisation application to be processed swiftly. When we are ready to lay our lives on the line for this country, I believe urgent processing is not a big ask.

The couple know Irish citizenship will help their children build a bright future. Im so happy my kids are in Ireland, theyre in a good country and living the best life a child could have, says Abdullah. Theyre safe here.

We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com, @newtotheparish

Originally posted here:
New to the Parish: Abdullah Afghan and Fatima Abdullah arrived from Afghanistan via Pakistan - The Irish Times

News

Ace spinner hopes the Covid-19 situation improves fast, and Afghanistan get a packed all-format calendar in place

Afghanistan have reached a stage where they are taken seriously by top-drawer oppositions in ODI and T20I because they have played those formats a lot, and therefore learnt and improved, Rashid Khan feels, adding that similar exposure in days' cricket can make the side more competitive in Tests. Afghanistan played their first Test in June 2018, but have played just three Tests after that one, the last in November 2019 - "more than three-to-four Tests a year," is what Khan wants.

"Everyone talks about Test cricket in Afghanistan now. If we play the longer formats, like Tests and ODIs, that is what makes you a better cricketer," Khan told ESPNcricinfo recently, while with Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. "In a shorter format, you don't have much time to reflect on your game, or try to improve, and you don't really understand where and how everything works. In T20s, you hardly get to know yourself.

"When we played in the 2019 World Cup in England, we were struggling with the bat, we didn't know how to do things. But later on, the more we played against the big sides, we started realising what to do and the right shot-selection. That gave us an idea how should we start and build the innings. Latter part of the tournament, we started scoring runs properly, and scored 250-plus in every game.

"That is something the boys are learning, and working on. So if we start playing longer formats, more than three-to-four Tests a year, which is really important for us, it will help the team and the players improve their cricket, especially the youngsters."

Khan is one of the more recognisable around the cricket world because of his exploits in T20 cricket. He became Afghanistan's first IPL millionaire when the Sunrisers Hyderabad used their Right to Match card for him in the January 2018 auction. He is one of the busiest T20 cricketers in the world, and has played for practically every major league there is. Overall, in 249 games, Khan has 344 wickets - the seventh-highest in the world - and in T20 Internationals, 89 from 48 games, only behind Lasith Malinga, Shahid Afridi, Shakib Al Hasan and Tim Southee.

Khan's Test career hasn't gone too badly either, as he has 23 wickets from four games, including three five-fors - one against Ireland in Dehradun and two in one Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram.

"Just imagine, if a youngster is playing a Test against a bigger team, only then he will realise what he needs to do and where he needs to improve," Khan explained. "In T20 cricket, you are just there to swing your bat, and you don't understand much. You either hit it or miss it, and it really doesn't matter if you get out because it's T20 cricket.

"But in Tests, you have to spend time (in the middle), you will be tested thoroughly. It's a test of technique, how mentally strong you are, and even how much passion you have in you, whether you are capable enough to survive and can rescue your team. Test cricket is what makes you a better cricketer and this is where we can get to improve our skills and our cricket in the long run."

Afghanistan will play a two-Test series - their first series of more than one game - against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi starting Tuesday. There has been a long gap between Tests for them, but it hasn't really been in their control because of the Covid-19 situation.

"All the countries have been affected by this pandemic. We had so many series [scheduled] in this period, and most importantly, we missed the T20 World Cup in Australia [scheduled for late 2020], which we were looking forward to playing," Khan said. "It was huge for the youngsters, and they were very keen for it, because we were well prepared for it and it could have changed the image of Afghanistan.

"But it didn't happen because of Covid and also a few of our series were called off, including the big Test against Australia. The Test in Perth was huge for us, and everyone back home was waiting for it. It could have been a historic Test. It is like a dream that comes true for any player to be a part of it. I would have considered myself so lucky to play in Australia against Australia, but this pandemic has really affected us. Hopefully, things are better, and this year is a huge year for us as a team, as a nation, and as players, and we will try our best to deliver."

Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent

Read the original post:
Rashid Khan: Afghanistan need 'more than three to four Tests a year' to become a stronger team - ESPNcricinfo

By ANI

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan boxer Nawid Mohammadi, who left his country and came to India in 2013 because of turmoil back home, said he wants to do well in the sport and make his country proud.

The 17-year-old is currently training in the national capital and will be making his professional boxing debut on May 1 in the featherweight division. The 'India Unleashed' fight night will comprise of 10 fight cards that will include top-20 talents scouted.

The star attractions for the night are going to be Pawan Goyat, Chandni Mehra (featherweight) and Suman Kumari (lightweight). Amidst the three, Goyat will be gunning for a title shot.

"I left my country because of turmoil and came to India with my family and later, I started boxing in 2017. I used to play in my country also, but now I am doing it in India. I want to be a professional boxer so that I can make my country proud," Mohammadi told ANI.

Aspiring to be a world champion, Mohammadi wants to set an example and be a role model to children in India as well as his ancestral country, Afghanistan.

When asked if he would like to return to his country: "Yes, I want to go but now my focus is to do well in boxing. That's my land, and one day, I would love to go back."

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Nawid Mohammadi to embark on boxing career in India after leaving Afghanistan due to turmoil - The New Indian Express

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On paper, the United States is committed to withdrawing its last 2,500 troops from Afghanistan less than 10 weeks from now, on May 1. Thats under a deal the Trump administration made last year with the Taliban, the Islamic guerrilla group fighting the Kabul government.

But its far from certain that will happen. Neither the Taliban, the Afghan government nor the United States have kept all their commitments under the year-old agreement. The Taliban promised to reduce attacks on government troops and civilian officials; it hasnt. The Afghan government promised to enter serious peace talks with the Taliban, but it has dragged its feet. The United States promised to begin lifting international sanctions against the Taliban, but when the war escalated and the peace talks deadlocked, the U.S. held back.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has continued pushing the governments underperforming army out of big swaths of territory. And someone presumably the Taliban has launched a remorseless campaign of assassinations against judges, journalists and teachers, especially women. The Taliban denies responsibility, but few believe the denial.

As a result, President Bidens path toward ending a war that began three presidents ago has grown more difficult.

Now he faces a decision: Should he withdraw most or all of the troops, as candidate Biden said he wanted, at the risk of seeing Afghanistan descend into a bloodbath?

Should he keep the 2,500 troops in place and announce that they will leave as soon peace negotiations are on track, but not before?

Or, as some former officials argue, should Biden send more troops until a final peace settlement is reached a potential recipe for an open-ended stay?

Its tempting for war-weary Americans to look at Afghanistan and say: We lost more than 2,400 troops, we spent more than $2 trillion, and we failed; its time to walk away.

But the United States still has interests in that part of the world, including the containment of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups roaming the region.

After 19 years, its still worth trying to bring this tragic misadventure to an end in a way that avoids needless damage along the way.

There are three basic options.

One is to stay and perhaps even make the U.S. military presence a little bigger. Thats essentially what a blue-ribbon commission co-chaired by retired Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended this month.

We know what will happen if we leave on 1 May, he warned. If we walk away, well leave behind chaos, if not civil war.

He argued that a continued U.S. military presence is critical to inducing the Taliban to negotiate, since getting foreign forces out of Afghanistan has long been the groups top priority.

At the other end of the spectrum, one of Dunfords former advisors, Afghanistan expert Carter Malkasian, says that its past time to get out.

When I look at the costs, leaving now is more compelling than ever before, he told the Washington Post recently. Malkasian argues that keeping U.S. troops in the country is unlikely to persuade the Taliban to enter negotiations as long as theyre making gains on the ground, and the presence of 2,500 U.S. troops hasnt stopped that.

But theres also a middle option: Postpone the withdrawal for six months, negotiate a new timetable for the peace talks, and try a more energetic diplomacy (which has come back into style after four years in the wilderness) including soliciting help from neighboring countries like Russia and China to press the Taliban to negotiate seriously.

The peace process is the best option for a decent outcome, even though its the least likely to succeed, Laurel Miller, a former State Department envoy to Afghanistan, told me. You need a six-month extension to have any possibility of getting it back on track.

The best U.S. leverage over the rebels isnt its military presence, she said; its the ability to show them they will be international pariahs if they seize power by force.

We know that they want to have the sanctions lifted, added Barnett Rubin, another former State Department advisor. We can begin that process as a positive incentive for negotiations.

The extension should be a one-time experiment, not an open-ended stay, he added. If it doesnt begin to work by Nov. 1, then we have to leave. And we have to tell people in advance that thats what were going to do.

That sounds like a sensible answer. After 19 years and more than 2,400 dead, we have no responsibility to continue propping up a government that cant be made to work. But theres still a moral argument for trying to leave the right way for doing what we can to avoid needless chaos on the way out the door.

Six months is not forever. It might just be enough time to give peace negotiations a chance.

Originally posted here:
Column: Can we actually pull out of Afghanistan on time? - Los Angeles Times