From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Afghan Exiles Condemn Attacks [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- http://www.times.spb.ru/archive/times/714/top/t_4938.htm St. Petersburg Times (Russia) October 19, 2001 "This war will ruin both the Afghan nation and an ancient civilization along with its culture." Local Afghans Condemn Attacks By Irina Titova STAFF WRITER Thirty-six-year-old Aref used to work at the Afghan Ministry of Rehabilitation and Rural Development as the chief engineer in the construction department. Now he spends his days selling purses and wallets at the Zvyozdny market. "I've been standing like this for nine years now," he said, pointing at his goods with indifference bordering on disgust. "I'm not an engineer anymore." According to Sergei Tarasevich, head of the St. Petersburg Migration Service, there may be as many as 20,000 Afghan nationals living in and around St. Petersburg. Naib Safi, head of the Afghan Citizens' Union of St. Petersburg puts the figure at "at least 3,000." According to Tarasevich, however, only about 600 hold official documents confirming their refugee status. For the rest, this lack of status means an inability to get local registration and, with it, access to health care, public schools and official employment. Aref, who asked that his last name not be published in order to protect relatives still in Afghanistan, rents a one-room apartment on the outskirts of the city with his wife and his baby daughter. Life is particularly hard for his wife, who doesn't speak Russian. "She is afraid to step away from our building," Aref said. "She and our daughter go for walks not more than 10 meters away from our house." Safi, who is a lawyer by profession, also sells clothing at the market. "What else can I do when my 8-month-old daughter is rejected at the local clinic? I have to pay for it, for my wife's doctor, for transportation, rent and so on," he said, holding a copy of his law-school dissertation from the St. Petersburg Police Academy. According to Safi, most of the Afghans currently living in St. Petersburg came here to study during the 1980s, when the Afghan government maintained close relations with the Soviet Union. After that government was defeated by the mujahedin in 1992, it became impossible for anyone tied to the former government to return. At the same time, a torrent of refugees who had supported or thrived under the Soviet-aligned regime abandoned the country, fearing for their lives. This group included the bulk of Afghanistan's doctors, teachers, engineers and trained military officers. When the current conflict erupted, local Afghans were unanimous in condemning the attacks on their homeland. "We all have relatives and friends back home. Now we know nothing about them since there is no connection with the country," Safi said. On Oct. 8, the local Afghan Council of Elders issued a statement on the U.S.-led air strikes against Afghanistan, saying, "the Afghan diaspora in St. Petersburg condemns the bombing of Afghanistan." "This war will ruin both the Afghan nation and an ancient civilization along with its culture," Safi said. Safi said that local Afghans do condemn the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and welcome the international campaign against terrorism, but they do not agree that bombing Afghanistan is an acceptable or appropriate response. "The world must understand the militant Taliban militia consists of just 30,000 people, whereas the rest [of the country's estimated 26 million people] are civilians," Safi said. "Bombings and other military actions seriously hit the civilian population, which will die not just from bombs but from hunger and disease." Now, however, as the campaign against their country continues, a new sense of helplessness has gripped the community. Local Afghans spend all their time listening to the news, trying to find out what is happening in the country they still call home. Sher Gulakhmet, a representative of the Afghan Culture Center, worries about his parents who live in Kabul. "They called me on the eve of the war and said that they hadn't left the capital. Now I can't reach them anymore," he said. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
