Donate to help Shah & his family flee the Taliban

Shah is a 30 year old Hazara Afghanistani man being targeted by the Taliban because of his previous position in the Department of National Security, who fought against the Taliban. His life is in imminent danger. After Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Shah fled to Iran and his wife and two young children went into hiding. Shah was picked up by police in Iran with no valid travel documents and was deported back to Afghanistan. After being back in Afghanistan for only a short time he was captured and brutally tortured by the Taliban for several says. His family paid a large ransom for his release.

Marque Lawyers assisted with lodging a humanitarian visa application for Shah in late 2021, but in all likelihood it is many months or possibly even years away from being processed. This is despite the representations we and third party NGOs have made to the Immigration Department about the serious danger Shah is in. After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the Department of Home Affairs promised 31,500 humanitarian or family stream visas for Afghan nationals. 47,912 visa applications have been lodged by Afghans but, as far as we’re aware, not a single interview has been conducted and almost no visas have been granted.

The best option available to Shah now is to apply for a Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB, or skilled labour refugee visa) instead, because it is guaranteed to be processed by the Department in 8-10 weeks. However TBB visas are expensive and will cost between $10-$15k.

The family have exhausted almost all of their funds on paying the ransom for Shah’s release and need help to pay the TBB visa application costs.

Depending on how much money can be raised we may also be able to assist with: arranging a safe house for Shah and his family to wait in Afghanistan while a TBB visa can be processed, border crossing into Pakistan, and flights to Australia.

All funds raised will be given to Shah's sister Noori who lives in Australia and can make all the necessary payments to TBB and the Department on his behalf.

(We ask that you please don't post this fundraiser link on social media or send it to any newspapers. Please share it privately with any others who may be interested in offering their support. Shah is in a lot of danger at the moment and we can't risk this becoming too public).